Celebrating a Legend of Modern Art: Amrita Sher-Gil

Amrita Sher-Gil was one of India’s preeminent artists. Born in Budapest in 1913 to a Sikh father and Hungarian mother, Sher-Gil created a body of work that still inspires and excites viewers today. Influenced by both European and Indian painting techniques, her work developed over the years and, when viewed as a whole collection, one can see the evolution taking place.

Sher-Gil was the first Indian student to attend École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where her work was influenced by post impressionists like Paul Gauguin. She exhibited at the Paris Salon, with paintings of her friends and acquaintances, and was also able to study from nude models, training her in the depiction of the human form. She also created a number of self portraits, using thick layers of pigment on the surface of the canvas. 

In her youth, Sher-Gil travelled back and forth between Europe and India (spending lots of time in Shimla), but decided to call India home when she reached her early twenties. It was on her return to India that she became inspired by Indian miniature techniques, as well as cave paintings which she visited in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India. This is one of the largest rock-cut Hindu temple cave complexes in the world, with artwork dating from the period 600–1000 CE. In her works from this period, you can see the visual transformation, as her work takes on a more intense palette of reds, ochres and yellows.

Although undeniably from a wealthy background (her father was an owner of landed estates), Sher-Gil’s focus when it came to figures was almost always ordinary people - villagers and peasants that she saw around her. She chose scenes from everyday life, such as a woman resting in a field or peeling potatoes. She also painted scenes without figures, including still-lifes and scenes from nature. 

She was not one of those artists who died before recognition. She was widely known in her time and as well as her exhibition at the Paris Salon, she also exhibited in Delhi and Bombay and was the recipient of multiple prizes. However, like many other artists who famously died in their 20s—Egon Schiele, Jean Michael Basquiat, Aubrey Vincent Beardsley⁠—Sher-Gil also passed away young, at the age of just 28. This was shortly after moving to Lahore with her new husband in 1941.

Although a short life, Sher-Gil’s talent and influence cannot be underestimated. She was celebrated during her life and is widely known around the world. There have been books written about her and films made (such as Navina Sundaram’s film created for a comprehensive exhibition shown in the Haus der Kunst, Munich and at Tate Modern, London). A large number of her works are available to view at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi and we encourage all readers to explore her art if you have yet to experience it.