Bengali writer and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore’s handwritten letter is sold for Rs 21 Lakh during an online auction this week.
In the sold letter, Rabindranath was expressing his reservations about the translation of his short stories. The bid had a base price of Rs 2-3 lakh but it went seven times than that of the base.
The letter is dated back to January 3rd, 1930, and addressed to Satyabhushan Sen, and it was a part of auction house AstaGuru’s ‘Collector’s Choice’ Modern Indian Art. The auction was held between June 21-22.
Translation is an integral part of literature and Rabindranath addressed that side of literature. He says that the readers did not appreciate the translation of his short stories and he seems skeptical about it.
Tagore also pointed out that his writing style is really different from contemporary ones. That might also establish a contrast between his and the other writers.
“The scarcity of such handwritten letters is one of the factors for their importance. We are happy to have been able to offer paintings, a poem, and a few letters by Tagore in our past auctions. The fact that we have been able to offer his works in the past doesn’t take away the importance of it at all. Considering the larger picture, they are still very rare to find. In this letter, he is directly referring to this literary aspect. This also makes this letter very important,” Chandiramani, the vice president of the auction house, said to Times of India.
The letter was a part of the 200 artwork collection that includes other artists such as Jamini Roy, MF Husain, Akbar Padmasree, and Manit Bawa. The two-day auction showcased some of the finest in Indian schools of art and Rabindranath is one pioneer figure of that, that has been established through the ages.
