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The paintings are kept at Dartington Hall at Devon in London. Dartington Hall, built in 1388, was bought in 1925 by Leonard Elmhirst, a close associate of Tagore who also briefly worked as Gurudev’s secretary at Santiniketan and the paintings were presented to Elmhirst by Tagore who kept them at the hall. The auction to be held at London on June 15 is estimated to fetch about 2.5 lakh pounds.
If the paintings are sold, the central government’s ambitious plans for bringing out a collection of all the paintings of Tagore will run into rough weather.
“I am shocked. How can this happen at a time when we are celebrating 150 years of Gurudev’s birthday. This will jeopardise our plans to bring out a collection his paintings. I will not sit idle. I will do everything possible to stop this disaster from happening,” Visabharati’s Vice-Chancellor Rajat Kanta Roy said.
Roy is going to Delhi tomorrow to attend the meeting convened by the prime minister.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been briefed about the development.
“It is heart-rending news. The government of India should buy all these paintings. Though the matter is not on the agenda of that day, I will draw the attention of the prime minister to this issue,” eminent poet Nirendranath Chakraborty, who will also attend the meeting along with other litterateurs like Shanko Ghosh and Sunil Gangopadhyay, said.
Other West Bengal ministers and officials expressed dismay over the issue. “It is unfortunate that Gurudev’s paintings are going to be sold. Let’s see what we can do,” Saumendranath Bera, Minister of State for Information and Culture, who will attend the meeting in Delhi on behalf of the CM, said.
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Not really. If any of our art has survived in good condition it is because of collectors spending money on buying and preserving them - both Indian and not. The Government has far more pressing issues to deal with. The dissemination of art can only be a good thing for India in the long run. It spread knowledge and develops interest about our culture and heritage. Should all out best works leave the country or remain in the country but in private collections? No, of course not. To have a focussed strategy the government should implement a strategy somewhat like the Japanese have done. Select the best of the work to be nominated as National Treasures and not to leave the country. The rest should go as far as it can and spread the word. This will free up resources and help keep our focus at a managable level.
Shocking news of auctioning the above at London on 15th June 2010. It should be stopped at any cost by Govt of India to sale out a National Heritage.