Women painters like Amrita Sher-Gil are immediately thought of when discussing the most emblematic Indian female artist. In her brief but productive career as a painter, she left behind a substantial body of work that continues to inspire us today. Being the first professional woman artist in India, she had a very different life and career, in contrast to many other women artists of the twentieth century. For instance, in the West, women artists struggled to find their style or niche, such as Camille Claudel or Natalia Gontcharova and Liuboc Sergeevna Popova, who were both more successful. Similarly, Laura Prieto also attributed the lack of great women artists to women being excluded from the credentials and institutions that would qualify them for greatness, and to the double bind of being a woman and an artist. So, in this way, we see that women artists have been erased from art history discourse for many decades. It was only after the establishment of the National Woman’s Museum in the 20th-century that women artists were once again known. I have previously stated these backgrounds in many other articles of women artists’ series. However, Amrita, to her Indian journey, has overpowered the art markets to such an extent that her importance even grew more than some of the best Indian male artists. Hence, it becomes significant to read about her journey, life and artistry. But due to the overwhelming amount of myths, legends, claims, and controversies on the Internet, finding Amrita is extremely difficult. When I read articles on Amrita earlier, I found that almost all of the information was misleading when I checked back through the sources of information. It is for this reason that I have written this article so you can get to know her as much as possible.
Artist Abstract: Amrita Sher-Gil.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, on 30 January 1913, her full name was Amrita Dalma Sher-Gil. She was the daughter of Umrao Singh (Sikh) and Marie Antoniette Gottesmann-Erdöbaktay (Hungarian). With a bit of European blood in her, Amrita returned to India to shed the acquired skin. It is through her photographs, simple and grand that she has seen her country with new eyes… a tribute to the Indian countryside. With her legendary beauty, precocious talent, outrageous behaviour, a coveted position in Indian modernist art, and tragic death at the age of twenty-eight, Amrita Shergill was an icon in India. The standard biography written three years after her death by her friend and confidant, Karl Khandalavala, emphasizes her preeminence as an Indian artist despite her mother tongue being Hungarian. According to him, her Indian paintings were of greater significance than those produced in Paris or Hungary due to their nationalist credentials.
| Artist | Amrita Sher-Gil |
| Birth | 30 January, 1913 |
| Death | 5 December, 1941 |
| Period | Modern India |
| Medium | Oil painting |
The Life Amrita Sher-Gil Lived.
There are two Amritas under numerous layers of myths, the first one is a brash, opinionated, proud controversialist, who enjoyed ‘epater les bourgeois‘, created scandals and made outrageous statements, enjoying freedom like a flying bird and the other is an introvert, melancholic, even by unresolved personal relationships, traumatized by sexual infections and abortions. But there was also the Hungarian-Indian Amrita, who swung between desperately seeking her identity in India. If by modernism we mean non-illusionistic art, she was more conservative than Rabindranath Tagore and Jamini Roy, except in her late works. Neither representation nor abstraction dominated her modernism. Despite this, she was at least half a century ahead of her time as a modern woman. Her nephew, Vivan Sundaram’s photomontage tells her juxtaposition of Western persona elegant in wool and fur with her Indian persona in silk sarees and brocade blouses, which rightfully explains her Sikh-Hungarian consciousness. As a result of these controversies, her study of life became extremely complicated.
Umrao Sinh Sher-Gil Majithia, Sikh nobleman, philosopher, Sanskrit scholar, and amateur photographer, married Marie Antoinette Gottesmann, an opera singer from a Hungarian-Jewish Catholic family in Budapest. Amrita was their first daughter who spent her first eight years there and then in India. The early Amrita Sher Gil paintings show her melancholy temperament because of the insecurities created by the turbulent marriage of her parents. She studied in Europe at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris at sixteen and then trained under the Post-impressionist painter Lucien Simon at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. She was such good with her charcoal drawings of the human figure that at nineteen, she won the top prize of the Grand Salon, becoming its youngest associate.
At that time, she spent her summers in Budapest, but as the end of 1933 came, she longed to return to India as she was drawn to the society and life of Indian villages. Her French teachers welcomed her decision as they knew that temperamentally, India, is perfect for her and not the West. In 1935, the Shimla Fine Arts Society awarded her a prize for one of her paintings but with some justification, turned down her few paintings. But the rebellious Amrita had such pride that she returned the prize, and wrote to the Society,
“I shall in future be obliged to resign myself to exhibiting them merely at the Gran Salon Paris of which I happen to be Associate, and the Salon des Tuileries known all over the world as the representative exhibition of Modern At… where I can, at least, be sure of receiving some measure of impartiality.”
In revenge, the Society, excluded her work from a later exhibition several years later. In 1939, she became convinced that the Indian art world rejected her work: her compositions were rejected by the Bombay Art Society, and were not recognized at the Delhi Fine Arts Exhibition. Her lack of diplomacy resulted in her losing a lucrative sale in Hyderabad because she ridiculed the collector’s taste for Victorian art. She felt demoralized by what she interpreted as indifference toward her work by the end of 1939. Amrita wrote ruefully,
“Funny that, even if it is in my interest to do so, I cannot say that a bad picture is good even if it is in my interest to do so.”
Her behavior reflects the romantic topos of artists putting themselves above philistine criticism, even if it means losing their livelihood. Nonetheless, she craved recognition, which ultimately let her to win the gold medal for her painting, Three Women by the Bombay Art Society. In 1937, she kept her first solo exhibition in Faletti’s Hotel in Lahore. Charles Fabri, the Hungarian art critic of the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, expressed his admiration for the kind of modernism he could relate to,
“modern but not ugly or incomprehensible”
R C Tandon, a professor at the Allahabad University, organized an exhibition campus for Amrita Shergill in the February 1937, but the critics felt it brutally realistic French art instead of Indian, and the public flocked to her shows because of her unconventional life and immoral subjects.
However despite all these, 1934-41 marked the vigorous painting career of Amrita Sher Gil, where she painted the legacy of artworks today. In 1938, she paid a small visit to Hungary to marry her doctor cousin, Victor Egan. However few years later, on 5 December 1941, she died at 28 because of her brief illness trated by her husband. And by the time she died, till now, she recieved such fame, which never went into any other artist.
To show hommage of her death, her teacher at the Grande Chaumirre, Pierre Vaillant, sent a photograph portrait of hers.
Amrita Sher Gil- Inspirations and Legacy.
In 31.01.2013, the National Gallery of Modern Art released “Special Cover,” by the Department of the Post, the release of two Portfolios on Amrita Sher Gil on the occasion of her birthday. In addition to being a featured personality, a film directed by Navina Sundaram followed.
Amrita Sher-Gil Cultural Center is an art centre dedicated to Indian culture in Budapest.
Amrita Sher-Gil’s 100th birthday was declared the International Year of Amrita Sher-Gil by UNESCO in 2013.
In Amrita Chowdhury’s contemporary novel Faking It, Sher-Gil’s work is a central theme.
In 2018, The New York Times published a belated obituary for her.
Jimmy Sher-Gil, the Mohabbatein star, is related to her directly. It is said that Amrita Shergill was his great-paternal aunt. Moving forward from her epic life journey, we will be displaying some of the awe-inspiring paintings that you will be fascinated by for the stories they hold.
Briefly Analysing 3o of the Amrita Sher Gil Paintings.
1. Group of Three Girls.
Among Amrita Sher Gil’s paintings, this piece holds a special place in our hearts. This is originally from the year 1935. It also won a gold medal from the Bombay Art Society. Gaugin’s influence on the flattening of figures is notable. From this point on, her use of brilliant red becomes more evident. Three women are sitting in a chair pose. Alongside, the vivid colours of saffron, red, and green fill the whole painting with absolute beauty. The dark-skinned colour, restless eyes looking down, perfect nose, and weighty lower lips are some other traits of the women here. It somehow depicts the pain in the rural women’s life where they are submissive to patriarchal society. Despite having a story of pain, the painting modestly displays joy. It seems Amrita Sher Gil has always felt emotions from her surrounding.
2. Sumair.
This artwork depicts the artist’s cousin Sumair. In Amrita Sher-Gil’s gallery of portraits, plenty of them are of her relatives and friends. In this painting, she depicted Sumair wearing a clean bun while dressed up in a floral saree and drop earrings. The big round eyes blushed cheeks, and red lipstick adds character to her appearance. In her right hand, she is holding flowers and the expressions are similar to the women in the painting Group Of Three Girls. The liveliness of the painting can be seen through contrasting colours of red and green.
3. Hungarian Gypsy Girl.
The artist made this painting in 1932 while vacationing in a Hungarian village. It was titled Hungarian Gypsy Girl. A tanned girl lying in the garden with brown hair and tanned hands is a classic example of the artist’s style. The use of florals is also worth noticing in this artwork. On the lady’s face, you can see her relaxed state. She has depicted the subject with effervescence and charm with a thick layer of pigments. The artist Amrita Sher Gil tends to depict his subjects with sharp features, thick lips, and flushed cheeks.
4. Ancient Story Teller.
This artwork, painted by Amrita Sher-Gil with oil paints in 1940, depicts a combination of architecture and figures. The artist captured the essence of village life in this painting. Undoubtedly, Amrita used to portray things in her way. Maybe this is why she reflected well even amid pain in her artworks. Despite the thick pigment layer of the background, the colours are well-highlighted. This work shows a family, perhaps a peasant family, with a woman preparing food. The man with his old white beard sits here telling fairy tales to the children. The two ladies gossiping behind them are delineating two different scenes. Behind the white monuments, even the tree leaves are seen with the naked eye. This kind of clarity in any painting is fascinating.
5. Hill Scene.
Painted in 1938, Amrita Sher Gil drew her from her last visit to Hungary. Earlier, she used to draw substantial paintings, but from this painting, it is visible that she demarcated the subject as well. There are bold colours in this painting. The background of this piece is beautifully emphasized and highlights the artist’s art. In contrast to past times, it portrays some women walking together. Possibly, they are returning from somewhere in the woods. The red colour is somehow missing in the following artwork. According to the clothing worn by women in the painting, it was created during a period when Amrita was influenced by traditional Indian culture. The painting even differentiates the leaves or branches of trees from the rest.
6. Denise Proutaux.
We have previously mentioned the artist’s habit of painting portraits of her close friends and family members. The painting depicts Denise Proutaux, a friend of the artist. She has painted her more than once. In this artwork, she is seen sitting with her side profile. Her perfect brown hair is tied in a bun. She is wearing the old classic black style dress with a hat and gloves. The pink blush cheeks, sharp eyebrows, and red lipstick are the eye-catching elements of her look.
7. Hungarian Village Market.
Indologist and historian Gyula Wojtilla credits this painting as “The Hungarian Market Scene,” painted in 1938. However, in the exhibition catalogue of Amrita Sher Gil: An Indian artist family of the twentieth century, its tentative year is 1939. It is visible that the painter has a style of forming a painting on a dark colour thick pigment layer. She has infused dark colours as a background and contrasted that with white buildings and brown roofs. The market is crowded with people wearing the same black dress form and holding their wooden tongs for support. Its crowd is joyous and turbulent, and so is the painting.
8. Haldi Grinders.
The artist painted this idyllic rural scene in 1940. During the last few years of her life, her paintings are pervaded by vibrant, saturated colours. Several scholars have commented on how the use of colour in these paintings is influenced by the Basholi tradition and other miniature traditions. This painting depicts three women with yellow, white, and red saris against a natural background in the middle of the picture plane. Behind the tree, a representation of a woman appears to be resting in black and brown, also attracting the viewer’s attention. With bright colours on the dress as well as a blurry brown background and massive trees, the viewer is put under immense stress.
9. Woman On Charpai.
The work of art here, painted in 1940, exemplifies passive feminist imagery. By incorporating domestic scenes of women’s intricacies most comfortably, Amrita Sher-Gil revolutionized the paintings that were considered feminine. There is a charpai covered in a white sheet with a lady sleeping on it in a more comfortable way than the standard woman’s posture. A second woman uses a hand fan. The room depicts the way of living at earlier times with an earthen pot (Matka) in each room for cold water. Each of the domestic scenes depicted by the artist carries the modelling of the feminine world.
10. Open Air Painters.
This exquisite depiction from the sanctuary of Amrita Sher Gil’s artworks is yet another imprint of Indian modern art. During the early 30s of the 20th century, the influence of both academic realism and post-impressionism guided her to depict three young painters working in the alfresco setting point. One observes a drop in realism when one looks closer at the face of the female artist who is deeply engaged in her work while the teen girl is gazing at another artist near the tree. The scene adapts to the slightest details without red pigments, which notes the early career of the artist.
11. Woman Holding Fan.
This painting is from the early careers of the artist where the pigments of red are missing. It depicts two women wearing various colours. As contrasted with the white wall behind the first lady dressed in green, her dark skin and lethargic expressions are highlighted. We think that she is holding a hand fan. The other woman holding the broom has covered her head with her off-white saree. This artwork is a clear representation of the feminine world.
12. Brahmacharis.
This painting is among the trilogy of South Indian Art, painted in 1940/41. Through Amrita Sher Gil’s travels through South India and to the rock-cut caves of Ajanta and Ellora, she was captivated by the Indian miniature traditions. Her visual language thus transformed dramatically. A palette saturated with reds, ochres, browns, yellows, and greens, and her figuration expressed a new visual reality. The contrast between the brick red background and the yellow floor in this painting is striking. There are four young boys and a child in it. They are wearing white-coloured dhoti and janeu (part of Brahmanical tradition). The tilak and the bun tied above the head of the young centre boy is the major attraction of the painting. In general, the South Indian art essence has deeply infused the artwork with sensation.
13. Self Portrait as Tahitian.
As in “Self-Portrait as Tahitian,” the female figure stands against an ominous shadow, which appears to be male. The shadows indicate the dominating influence of both painters that Amrita Sher Gil is evoking. In her artworks, the woman is not presented to a man as an object of sexual desire. The sadness on the woman’s face is maybe because of misery, dominance by a patriarchal society, and unhealthy relationships. In the background of the woman, she has drawn some Japanese elements. Through her paintings, Sher-Gil primarily attempted to portray the actual truth of the female experience. Here, we see a nude female lying in repose. The brown body and black hair in a fussy ponytail portray the simplicity of the subject. Amrita Sher Gil was perfectly an example of a feminist nude artist.
14. Young Girls.
An award-winning painting from 1932 was accepted into the Grand Salon in 1933 and won associate membership. The painting depicts a story between two girls in which there is numerous gossip. The lady sitting on a white chair with green cushions, wearing a fairy white dress with navy blue accents, draws attention to the entire painting. The long blonde hair covering her face in a mess completes the look. Another woman holds a plate of fruit and wears a green dress with red sleeves. The blend of brown skin and white skin shows the fusion of two different places.
15. Self Portrait (7).
To be an artist, you must perceive beauty through character. Her work exemplified that correctly. Here, the artist has self-portraiture her as happy. There are similarities to the previous works, such as the long black hair, blushing cheeks, and red lips. Another element of this seductive and exuberant mood depiction involves wrapping herself in a cloth and wearing a necklace and bangles. Amrita Sher Gil had proven to us the example of beauty with talent through this artwork.
16. The Young Man With Apples.
Amrita Sher-Gil painted most of her friends, family, and fellow students between 1930 and 1932. Similarly, this portrait showcases one of her known. Observe the man wearing a white shirt and brown pants, which used to be a common outfit during that time. He is holding apples in despair. Likewise, we recognize that life’s fruitful journey tends to be littered with adversity.
17. The Merry Cemetery.
The ultimatum reality of our lives is truthfully the same. Even though we travel along different paths, we are treated similarly at death. It is a subject that most people fear. Amrita Sher-Gil painted this village scene in 1939 when she finally returned to India. The painting depicts the eerie silence of a cemetery with the lost ones laying peacefully and not a single attendant to remember their givings. It reminds us of the book, Who Will Cry When You Die? By Robin Sharma. We all need to live a life that counts as a blessing to the people around us.
18. Two Women.
Originally painted in 1936, this piece is based on inspiration from drawing rural scenery. The artist has painted two-woman here. One of them, wearing green, covering her head is seen sitting with knees to chest. The brown-skin restless expressions are again shown here through the artist. She has applied a Sindoor to the particularly striking skin. This tells that Amrita Sher Gil has always respected the customs and traditions of India. On the other hand, the lady standing wore white, with a dull expression, gazing at the earth. Maybe the sufferings and pain that females used to witness at that time are well understood by the artist. The contrasting colours are again making the painting a masterpiece.
19. Dressing Table.
This painting was made in 1931 by the artist. A dressing table with a perfume bottle, a beaded necklace, and white flowers is painted here by her. The dark colours, however, and contrasting white flowers make this art eye-catching.
20. Notre Dame.
The evening walks of Notre Dame of Paris are none less than a dream come true. Amrita Sher Gil painted this when she was a student at Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. It’s a rich art form that features deep, dark pigments. Note the lack of red saturation in this piece. She painted this early in her career when bright colours were not her style.
21. Winter.
In 1939, a year after returning to India, she painted the stark winter landscape of Hungary in monochrome. A portion of the painting has been used by her nephew, the artist Vivan Sumdaram, in one of his photomontages about her life. The white blanket that the earth has worn here with few trees represented by black is soothing to watch. Toward the end, the artist draws a hut that speaks of living even in colder places. A place like that is irresistible when you are in the mood for it. There is a definite overlap of trees. In the bark of trees, we see parallel lines, which convince us to notice the pattern again.
22. Red Verandah.
During the years before the Quit India Movement, Amrita Sher-Gil was very active with the depictions of reality. This artwork is yet another piece of evidence for the same. Named by the critic Geeta Kapur, Red Verandah is a curious representation of a group with different emotions and states. When looking precisely, we can see that one of the ladies is in the mood of having a conversation while the one facing her is sitting with sad emotions on her face. A lady in despair sits near her, and a child is hugging the woman next to her. A group of people is seated near a charpai (Khaat), which is popular in Indian villages. We suppose the name is derived from the red pillars that are being shown beside this group. The different elements of emotions and expressions are the laying ground of this artwork and something that the artist is recognized for.
23. Department Store.
Possibly done in the 1930s, the artist has drawn a whole market here. A yellow pillar, surrounded by dummies, is depicted in the painting. The mannequins are dressed in yellow and are posing in various ways. Some of the women are shopping here. They wear authentic classic dresses. A dwarf man is also depicted here, with a woman looking at the dummy dress. The grand natural scenery of the crowd is visible here through the artist’s work.
24. Mother India.
After the artist returned to India in 1934 from Paris, she started capturing the unfiltered domestic lives of the rural economy. She often portrays her subject in a melancholy and despairing manner, with large and sad eyes. In this artwork, the artist has grieved the pain of Mother India, where the sufferings were endless. Featuring dark-skinned, long-eyed, and sorrowful features, she is shown wearing a saree in pink, representing a true female character. She never ceases to nurture her children.
25. Resting.
The artwork is from the 1940s Gallery of Artists. Her paintings depict scenes from the domestic life of women during the afternoon. Previously, after lunch and household chores, women used to rest with their children. This artwork depicts the same incident, in which one woman sleeps while the other carries a child so that she can sleep soundly. The use of bright colours such as red and green are emphasizing the look of the women.
26. Two Elephants.
Indian art illustrates the cultural and religious significance of elephants through unique figures. One of the prominent depictions is Lord Ganesha and the different artistic forms adopted to draw him. The Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher Gil showcases a vibrancy of dark colour with a drop of white contrast. The presence of pigmented red is also present.
27. Elephant Promenade.
History has long acknowledged Indian architecture’s efficiency. As modernization accelerated, tribes and natural environments remained nearby. Among these animals were elephants and cows. This gorgeous work from the Amrita Sher Gil gallery depicts Mahouts riding elephants while throwing light on the natural escape, fort architecture, and the frisky life of this community while on a ride. The dark tones of the artwork tend to attract you to the finer details, while the red pigments preserve the distinguishing nature for the viewer’s admiration.
28. The Woman at Bath.
Painted in 1940, the artist seems to depict the inside of the woman’s bathroom through this artwork. The painting historically is evidence of the female life. The woman portrayed here is taking a bath with an earthen pot as the source of running water on her soft and warmed body. Next to her is traditional soap in powder form. The colours are vivid and dull. The female figure is just like a classic without any filters, so it satisfies the ideal of the perfect body.
29. Nude Study (8).
The physical beauty may fade one day. What remains with you is your beauty of the heart. This painting is a nude study of a female body, where she is lying on her sides, posing with both hands. This painting conveys Sher-Gil’s belief that a female body can have imperfections, but these imperfections make her more beautiful. The representation of pubic hair and facial expressions of the lady is the primary noticing point. Women are likely to be flawless in all facets of their lives. This painting is a true feminist art that breaks all the stupid norms.
30. Nude Study (1).
In contrast to women’s portrayals of nude studies, Amrita Sher-Gil has also depicted the male in her works. The dull expressions, normal body, and model posture are some principal elements of the painting. The subject is well-presented. The naked body art was one of her disciples which she was perfect at.
Final Words.
During her lifetime, she visited places and lived life on her terms. Her paintings illustrate this perfectly. In her artwork, she rarely reveals her true nature of being bisexual and romantic. Amrita Sher-Gil is a female artist with a fierce female heart, and we learned a lot from her. Undoubtedly, she was one of the most famous artists in India who dedicated her life towards art and loving India. What do you think of her paintings? Do you feel the real feminism in them?
Resources.
Note that this is a very brief account of her life. To read her entire life in detail, you can refer to the following books.
1. Amrita Sher–Gil – A Self–Portrait in Letters and Writings [two–volume cased set].
2. Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life by Yashodhara Dalmia.
3. The Triumph of Modernism: India’s Artists and the Avant-Garde 1922-1947 by Partha Mitter.
Frequently Asked Questions.
Amrita Sher-Gil was a Hungarian-Indian artist of the early 20th century. She was best known for her naturalistic art form that used to depict the lives of women of the time. The artist left France to pursue art only in India. She once said, “I can only paint in India. Europe belongs to Picasso, Matisse, Braque… India belongs only to me.”
Amrita Sher Gil was 28 years old when she passed away on 5 December 1941. According to her biography, complications in her second failed abortion performed by Egan resulted in her sudden demise.
Amrita Sher Gil was born in Hungary on 30 January 1913. Her father, Umrao Singh, was a Sikh philosopher, Sanskrit scholar, and amateur photographer, and her mother, Marie Antoinette Gottesmann, was an affluent Hungarian-Jewish opera singer.
Amrita Sher Gil’s paintings were known for their expressions of pain and joy. The artist took inspiration from her surroundings, painted live subjects and their hidden stories and used contrasting colours to complete her work.
The National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi has a generous collection of 107 Amrita Sher Gil paintings. It covers an extensive range of her considered works from both Paris and Indian days.
Amrita Sher Gil was born in Hungary on 30 January 1913 to a Sikh philosopher and Sanskrit scholar, Umrao Singh, and an affluent Hungarian-Jewish opera singer, Marie Antoinette Gottesmann.
In 1938, Amrita Sher Gil married her first cousin and Doctor Viktor Egan in Budapest, Hungary.
Amrita Sher Gil painted Haldi Grinders in 1940. It is a rural scene believed to be influenced by the Basholi tradition and other miniature traditions.
Amrita Sher Gil made various artworks, including Young Girls in 1932, which won her an associate membership in Grand Salon, in 1933.
