The activities of the Bichitra Club varied with each day, starting with drawing classes in the morning and transforming into a library in the evening. The library hosted an extensive collection of more than 7000 books borrowed mostly from the rare and valuable collection of the different members of the Tagore family. Along with presenting drama and cultural programmes occasionally, the club also converted into an assembly of artists and writers to discuss and practice social activities every week. Another important function was encouraging the members to collect different handicrafts such as needle work, earthen works, materials made up of bamboo or cane, from different villages. Drawing inspiration from these materials, Abanindranath compiled them and published them in his book called, ‘Banglar Brata’ along with rhymes and sacred stories.

Abanindranath Tagore was the first teacher and Gaganendranath Tagore was the director of the Bichitra Club. The club served as an important social, intellectual and artistic hub of cultural life in Calcutta where Gaganendranath attempted to abandon the ideological revivalism embraced by the Bengal School of Art and took up caricature to satirize the westernised middle class of urban Bengal. The printmaking techniques explored at the club marked the advent of the journey of woodcuts and lithographs to being considered original and creative art medium. The principal teachers at the Bichitra Club were Nandalal Bose, Surendranath Kar, Mukul Chandra Dey and Asit Haldar. The logo of this organization was illustrated by Nandalal Bose.

Rabindranath was essentially the soul of this organization and thus when he travelled out of India in 1916, the activities came to a standstill. Disappointed at this closure, Rabindranath sent a Japanese artist, Kampo Arai, to Bichitra, which helped in accelerating the interest of the members as well as the position of the club. By teaching the Japanese method of painting, Kampo Arai offered the artists new and different avenues of painting to explore. The year 1917-1918 is considered to be Bichitra’s golden year given the introduction of new techniques and collaborations. As the meetings of the club gradually increased, the discussions and readings on art and literature intensified with an active interaction. The members became more inclined towards the cultural activities held at the club. They were encouraged to fulfil their creative expression not only through painting, but through theatre and music as well.

The exact date or year of the disbandment of this club and its activities is uncertain. However, it is speculated that the initiative taken by Rabindranath to convert Santiniketan into ‘Viswabharati’ or a world class University led to the transfer of the programme of Bichitra to Viswabharati as well.

Even though Abanindranath Tagore was involved with the Government School of Art as well as the Indian Society of Oriental Art around the same time, he did not give up his devotion to strengthen Bichitra Club’s position on evolving the technique of printmaking and therefore continued to make himself available as a mentor at the club while he served as the Vice Principal at the Government School of Art. “Works from the Bichitra Studio (despite the Club's informal and liberal profile) were highly respected by the educated Bengali middle classes who were increasingly attracted to art as a possible vocation.” [2] The Bichitra Club was one of the first artists’ led initiatives.

[1] Calcutta: Society and Change 1690-1990, Pg. 145, Samaren Roy, iUniverse, 2005.

[2] Lasting Impressions, Paula Sengupta, Art India Magazine, Vol 11, Issue 1, Qtr 1, 2006.