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Abanindranath Tagore was born in Jorasanko, Calcutta, British India, to Gunendranath Tagore and Saudamini Tagore. As the champion of Swadeshi values in Indian art, he founded the influential Bengal school of art, which led to the development of modern Indian painting. Tagore sought to modernise Mughal and Rajput styles to counter the influence of Western models of art, as taught in art schools under the British Raj. He was a member of the distinguished Tagore family and a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. His grandfather and his elder brother, Gaganendranath Tagore, were also artists.

One of his most influential works, Bharat Matadepicts a saffron clad woman, dressed like a sadhvi, holding a book, sheaves of paddy, a piece of white cloth and a rudraksha garland in her four hands. The painting was the first illustrated depiction of the concept of Mother India and was painted during the larger Indian Independence movement. Also, evocative of Hindu imagery, the painting's central figure has multiple (four) hands which can be equated to immense power.