I am an individualist, evolving a new technique, which, though not necessarily

Indian in the traditional sense of the word, will yet be fundamentally Indian in spirit.
With the eternal significance of form and color- Amrita Sher-Gil. Amrita Sher-Gil's
free spirit and artistic prowess completely captured and inspired Indian artist for
generations to come. She was one of the most celebrated painters of pre-
independence India and among the initiator of Indian modern art, merging European
and Hungarian traditions with ancient Indian art. She died at the age 28 and left
behind an oeuvre of almost two hundred brilliant paintings. Sher-Gil was a woman
far ahead of her time. Her legendary charm enraptured many - including, it is
believed, India's future prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She was born in Budapet in
1913 to a Hungarian mother Marie Antoinette Gottesmann and an aristocratic father
Sardar Umrao Singh Sher-Gil of Majitha. A world artist she was a perfect blend of
East and West. She and her younger sister Indira spent their early childhood in
Budapest. Her mother's passion for music and her father's deep interest in Sanskrit
and Persian exposed Sher-Gil to a life rich in art and culture. Amrita started drawing
and painting at the age of five and later illustrated her mother's enchanting
Hungarian fairy tales. In 1921 the Sher-Gil family returned to India, and made their
home in Simla. However in 1923, Amrita's mother's involvement with an Italian
sculptor inspired her to move to Italy along with Amrita, who was enrolled at Santa
Annunziata, an Art School at Florence, giving her brief exposure to works of Italian
masters. The drawings and watercolours Amrita did between the ages of eleven and
fourteen were European in content. Naked women and landscapes seemed to evoke
her self exploration. Painter turned Indologist. Ervin Baktay was Amrita's uncle. He
soon became her guide and mentor giving her an academic foundation to grow on.
He also encouraged her to study from life by using her servants as models. It is the
lasting memories of these models that eventually lead to her return to India. She
would attentively listen to his criticism and told him later 'It is to you I owe my skill in
drawing'. Realizing her daughter's talent for art Marie moved her sixteen years old
Amrita to Paris to hone her artistic talent. Here she trained as a painter at Grande
Chaumiere under Pierre Vaillant and later at cole des Beaux-Arts (193034).Inspired
by Paul Czanne and Paul Gauguin, she was also influenced by her teacher Lucien
Simon. In Paris her mode of painting was western as it reflected the art of the
Bohemian circles of the city in the early 1930s; she was in her element with her
avant garde friends of the art and literary world. Here she painted Young Girls in
1932 her first significant work, which led to her election as an Associate of the Grand
Salon in Paris in 1933, making her the youngest ever and the only Asian to have
received this recognition hence. In this charming painting her sister Indira sits on the
left clothed in chic European garb, while the partially undressed figure in the
foreground is a French friend, Denise Proutaux. In 1934, while in Europe she "began
to be haunted by an intense longing to return to India," In response to her father's
hesitancy about her proposed return to India from Europe, claiming that she did not
understand Indian art and philosophy, she wrote "I wish to return primarily in
interest of my artistic development ...... Our long stay in Europe has aided me to
discover as it were, India. Modern art has led me to the comprehension and
appreciation of Indian painting and sculpture. It seems paradoxical, but I know for
certain that, had we not come away to Europe, I should perhaps never have realised
that a fresco from Ajanta or a small piece of sculpture in the Muse Guimet is worth
more than the whole Renaissance.In short, now I wish to go back to appreciate India
and its worth ... She had "feeling in some strange way that there lay my destiny as a
painter", as she later wrote about her return to India, in the same year. Once back
home she was all set to discover her Indian tradition and art practices by traveling
and acquainting herself with her Indian roots. It was a journey that completely
absorbed her. She embarked on a visual language that would become an inspiration
for generations to come. She was captivated by the Mughal, Pahari, Kangra and
Basholi schools of painting and cave paintings at Ajanta Caves. Her new work was the
blend of her travels, her innate perception and a narrative that created a visual
language akin to Indian miniatures. However her canvases took on earthier, flat
tones. Having mastered western techniques of oil painting she created vignette of
Indian rural life, with a flair that made the most ordinary situation appear
extraordinary. In her inimitable style she had captured India like nobody had done
before, focusing on the life of the poor rural Indian, narrating their stories in a
language that saw the emergence of contemporary Indian art. She moved away from
colonial circles to generate an Indian sense of modernity. She along with
Rabindranath Tagore heralded a cultural freedom that completely overtook the
colonial views. They inspired artists to create India in a visual narrative that was
universal. Sher-Gil's work had a wide appeal. "[Hers] is an art which moves naturally
towards the melancholy and tragic, while keeping its eye fixed firmly on high ideals
of beauty wrote Salman Rushdie. She was a strong willed beautiful woman who
declared You will think I am self-opinionated, in 1934, aged just 21, but I will stick
to my intolerant ideas and to my conviction. She went on to become an enlightened
artist whose taste in art and literature ranged from Rousseau, Verlaine, Proust,
Renoir, Breughel to the splendor of the Ellora carvings and Ajanta cave paintings
revealing her heightened sensitivity. Sensuality and beauty were important for
Amrita. While referring to the Cochin frescoes in a passionate letter to close friend
Karl Khandalavala, the artist says all art, not excluding religious art, has come into
being because of sensuality: sensuality so great that it overflows the boundaries of
the physical. Sher Gil exudes sensuality in Woman resting on charpoy 1940 through
the passionate red apparel worn by the woman. The upward angle of her leg
insinuates a longing and anticipation aiming at the woman's concealed sexual
desires. Sher-Gil's woman is rustic, earthy and modern. The artist displays a quiet
understanding of the psychology of the feudal Indian woman whose restful
appearance seems to camouflage her turmoil of suppressed desires. The erotically
suggestive pose along with the tilted charpoy insinuates a strange intimacy. Amrita's
time spent with a group of women, which included her female relatives and servants,
gave her an insight into the social and psychological problems of the cloistered life of
traditionally oriented Indian women. She understood their suppressed desires, which
she depicted with great panache in her paintings, like the eroticism that exudes from
The Swing 1940 where a languid sexuality pervades as the women begin to play with
the swing she saw the world through color and invited the viewer to share her
unique visual experience. In Bride's Toilet the artist captures the gentleness and
innocence of the bride in her inimitable style. Once again her brilliance and flair
injects life into the feminine activity of the women. Sher-Gil had a special fascination
for the color red that is evident as it stands out against the dark tones of her back
ground. Here different shades of red are highlighted by a contrasting green and a
striking white color. Sher-Gil has used white in the most breathtaking fashion in
many of her paintings as is evident in The Ancient Story Teller 1940, Hill Women1935
and Brahmachari's. 1937. The white walls and dome in the horizon in The Ancient
Storyteller add a depth to the painting. The white veil worn in the foreground stands
out in contrast to the other garments in Hill Women and piece des resistance are the
white dhotis of the Brahmacharis which have been the inspiration of many artist of
today. The grouping of people added yet another dimension to her work like Three
Women where all are pensive with soulful exuding a quiet stillness. Her travels to
South India impacted her even more. She discovered the Padmanabhapuram and
Mattancheri murals or frescos. In a letter to her Sister Indu she tells of the frescos
found in Cochin- I spend my days morning and evening, that is to say till the light
fails, at a deserted palace here. It contains some perfectly marvelous old paintings
that haven't been discovered yet. Nobody knows about them and the local people,
even so called responsible people, like the Diwan would destroy them, I am sure. If
that were in their power- because some of the panels depict erotic scenes. Animals
and birds are copulating with the utmost candor, but curiously the human figures are
never depicted in the act. It is only when one starts copying them that one realizes
what an astounding technique these people had and what an amazing knowledge of
form and power of observation they possessed. Curiously enough unlike the slender
forms of Ajanta, the figures are extremely heavy here. The drawing perhaps the most
powerful I have seen. The Cochin frescoes return in a passionate letter to
Khandalavala, and it is clear they influenced her deeply, just as Breughel did, and
Renoir. She became convinced that all art, not excluding religious art, has come into
being because of sensuality: sensuality so great that it overflows the boundaries of
the physical. Amrita Sher Gil's contribution to Indian art was enormous. Besides
uplifting the spirit of womanhood she created a visual language that found a balance
between tradition and modernism. She injected a new dynamism into the Indian art
scene. Her strong poignant response to the life of village India - was projected in
compositions, which brilliantly combined Indian and Post-impressionist styles,
particularly that of Gaugin. Sher Gil showed the rich milieu, available to Indian artists
and highlighted the significance of technical `painterly' values in art.