Vintage 1961 commemorative print after a painting by India artist and poet Rabindranath Tagore.  Printed by Eagle Company Private Limited on custom fine art paper produced by India Pulp Paper Company.  Sheet size: 14 x 10 inches.

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, musician, and artist who is widely regarded as one of the most important cultural figures in modern Indian history.  He was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on May 7, 1861, and died on August 7, 1941.  Tagore was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he was awarded in 1913 for his collection of poems, Gitanjali (Song Offerings).  He was a prolific writer, producing poetry, fiction, and non-fiction works throughout his lifetime.  Some of his other notable works include the novels "The Home and the World" and "Gora," and the plays "The Post Office" and "The King of the Dark Chamber".  Tagore was also a prominent social and political figure in India.  He was a strong advocate for Indian independence from British rule and was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi.  In addition to his literary and political contributions, Tagore was also a respected painter and musician, and he established a school, Visva-Bharati University, in Santiniketan, West Bengal, that emphasized both academic and artistic education.