Portrait of Tagore

Inscription: Beihong, Gengchen year (1940).
Seal: “Beihong” (Rectangular seal with relief characters)

In 1939, Xu Beihong traveled to India, and held solo exhibitions at Visva-Bharati University and venues in Kolkata.
After important Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore saw and admired Xu’s work, he praised the lofty figures, the rhythmic lines, and the uniquely Chinese style. Xu Beihong made a dozen sketches of Tagore, and he made the ink painting Portrait of Tagore, one of his best portraits, based on these sketches.