Modernism in Indian art history developed in conversation with the cultural dilemmas and contradictions during the colonial regime. The ensuing tensions between the Western convention of academic art and the essentialist espousal of an Oriental past eventually led to cultural symbiosis in Indian modernist aesthetics. In the works of artists like K.H. Ara, Ramkinkar Baij, and Sayed Haider Raza, indigenous traditions interacted with modern techniques to address the heterogeneity of caste, religion, gender, and race in the cultural fabric of India. As pertinent studies have shown, unlike the later modernist preoccupation in the West

Gaganendranath Tagore and the Political Aesthetics of Caricature The widespread global political mayhem marked by bigotry and half-witted extremism works in tandem with the overt proliferation of images. In their affect-driven reception, the efficacy of social-political critique in images of public propagation should be rethought, especially in political cartoons and caricatures. Caricatures are known for their play between distortion and recognition, violence and humour, entertaining mockery and thoughtful inquisition. To understand the political-aesthetics of caricatures and their fluidity in containing critical political positions, it would be interesting to revisit Gaganendranath Tagore’s short but prolific stint in caricature drawings. I