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Primary sourceSculpture1926

Bust of Rabindranath Tagore

Jacob Epstein · 1926

A bronze bust of Tagore modelled from life in 1926 by the British sculptor Jacob Epstein.

This bust is a life-modelled likeness of Tagore made by a major Western sculptor, showing his international fame.

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Dark bronze bust of an elderly bearded man with a high forehead, deep-set eyes, long flowing beard and hair, on a plain pedestal against a cream wall with a spotlight from above.
Jacob Epstein, Bust of Rabindranath Tagore, 1926. Rabindra Bhavana Museum.

About this source

What it is

This bronze bust shows Rabindranath Tagore as an elderly man with a high forehead, deep-set eyes and long flowing beard and hair. It was modelled from life in 1926 by the sculptor Jacob Epstein. The bust is now held by the Rabindra Bhavana Museum.

Why it matters

By 1926 Tagore was internationally famous, and this bust is a record of how a leading Western artist saw and chose to portray him. It shows the global reach of Tagore's reputation as a poet and thinker, who sat for an artist outside his own culture.

Look closer

  • What details does the sculptor emphasise in the face and expression?
  • Why might a Western sculptor have wanted to model Tagore from life?
  • What might a bust leave out that a photograph or painting could show?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rabindranath Tagore on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the book Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats, published by Macmillan and Co., London, 1913.Book

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Song Offerings

Rabindranath Tagore · 1912

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore leaving a building, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

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Tagore Leaves the Sigtuna Foundation

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Title page of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats. Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1913.Book

Primary source

Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore · 1910

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore standing with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

Primary source

Tagore with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Piano sheet music score titled 'Jana Gana Mana' by Rabindranath Tagore, in D minor/F major key with 4/4 time, tempo 96, two staves (treble clef) with dynamics like f, p, ff and a fermata at the end.Document

Primary source

Jana Gana Mana

Rabindranath Tagore · 11 December 1911

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