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photo-article-logo Friday, 03 May 2024

Amrita Sher-Gil: Revolutionary, avant-garde artist of modern India

Amrita Sher-Gil, a Hungarian born Indian painter is considered to be one of the greatest avant garde artists of 20th century India. The socially deprived, underprivileged and the forgotten minorities of India has become this iconic female artist's muse in her artworks. Her depiction of Indian women in a hetero-normative patriarchal society has been widely celebrated across the globe.

Our Web Desk Published 31.01.23, 01:37 PM
Amrita Sher-Gil, born to a Sikh father and Jewish mother, was a force to be reckoned with. Being a rebellious child, she condemned Catholic rituals and was expelled from her Catholic convent school in 1924.
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Amrita Sher-Gil, born to a Sikh father and Jewish mother, was a force to be reckoned with. Being a rebellious child, she condemned Catholic rituals and was expelled from her Catholic convent school in 1924.

Pictures: Twitter
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Sher-Gil's artwork titled 'Three Girls' won the Gold Medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937. Three girls dressed in bright clothes, their facial expression says a lot about their lives and their destiny, their future. This is considered to be one of her most famous artwork.
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Sher-Gil's artwork titled 'Three Girls' won the Gold Medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937. Three girls dressed in bright clothes, their facial expression says a lot about their lives and their destiny, their future. This is considered to be one of her most famous artwork.

Time and again, the artist has put forth the underprivileged and the deprived souls of the society in her paintings. To draw this particular artwork, 'Bride's Toilet', Sher-Gil has taken inspiration from the Ajanta Cave art. Taking inspiration from the Mogul miniatures of South India, she created this art in European style, with rich contrasting colors.
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Time and again, the artist has put forth the underprivileged and the deprived souls of the society in her paintings. To draw this particular artwork, 'Bride's Toilet', Sher-Gil has taken inspiration from the Ajanta Cave art. Taking inspiration from the Mogul miniatures of South India, she created this art in European style, with rich contrasting colors.

Sher-Gil's interest in arts and art-forms spiked from a very early age. She spent most of her time painting or playing the Piano. It seems being an artist came naturally to her. I have always had, with a strange certitude, the conviction, that I meant, to be a painter and nothing else, Shergil was quoted saying.
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Sher-Gil's interest in arts and art-forms spiked from a very early age. She spent most of her time painting or playing the Piano. It seems being an artist came naturally to her. I have always had, with a strange certitude, the conviction, that I meant, to be a painter and nothing else, Shergil was quoted saying.

Amrita Sher-Gil's ‘In the Ladies’ Enclosure’ is considered to be the second costliest artwork in India as it was sold for Rs 37.8 crore (USD 5.14 million) at the summer live sale of Mumbai auction house Saffronart in 2021. She painted a group of women and a dog mustered near Hibiscus flower plant. The girl at the centre is a bride in a red salwar kameez, getting her hair done by another woman and there is also a girl looking keenly at the flowers nearby.
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Amrita Sher-Gil's ‘In the Ladies’ Enclosure’ is considered to be the second costliest artwork in India as it was sold for Rs 37.8 crore (USD 5.14 million) at the summer live sale of Mumbai auction house Saffronart in 2021. She painted a group of women and a dog mustered near Hibiscus flower plant. The girl at the centre is a bride in a red salwar kameez, getting her hair done by another woman and there is also a girl looking keenly at the flowers nearby.

Among the notable artworks of India's modern artist, Sher-Gil's self portraits are mention-worthy.
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Among the notable artworks of India's modern artist, Sher-Gil's self portraits are mention-worthy.

Sher-Gil has done several self portraits, each having different moods and tones to it. Her paintings are celebrated for having a larger than life depiction.
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Sher-Gil has done several self portraits, each having different moods and tones to it. Her paintings are celebrated for having a larger than life depiction.

After moving from Paris to Shimla in 1934, Amrita Sher-Gil painted 'Hill Women' after observing the life of the Indian villagers. Her paintings from that time period, represented the village people and their way of life.
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After moving from Paris to Shimla in 1934, Amrita Sher-Gil painted 'Hill Women' after observing the life of the Indian villagers. Her paintings from that time period, represented the village people and their way of life.

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