The sum of her works

BUSINESS CLASS

An engaging biography on Amrita Sher-gil.

Amrita Sher-Gil's work fetched a staggering sum of Rs 6.9 crore at an auction in New Delhi a few weeks ago, shattering all records and becoming the most expensive work to sell in India. And there couldn't have been a better time to publish a book on Amrita Sher-Gil authored by one of India's finest art critics and historian, Yashodhara Dalmia. Simply titled Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life, the smart hardback discusses the artist's extraordinary life as well as her art in the contemporary context.

It is interesting to note that most doctrines on Sher-Gil have thus far been scripted by either close members of her family, lovers or admirers. Dalmia's simple and elegant narrative fills in the gaps that were previously left out by other authors knowing or unknowingly, in an effort to simplify and shed light on findings that have surfaced over the last two decades, and intervews with those who knew her well.

Amrita Sher-Gil, the beautiful and brilliant artist, was born in 1913 in Budapest to an aristocratic Sikh father and a Hungarian mother. She lived between Europe and India, studied at the elite Ecole des Beaux Arts where she became the first Asian to win a gold medal for painting. Her sexual preferences and encounters were legendary.

After a string of affairs with Indian noblemen, colleagues and an English journalist, she chose to marry her childhood sweetheart and cousin, Victor Egan. Even though she lived only till 28, Sher-Gil's unparalleled contribution to Indian art is her ability to nurture a new language in painting that successfully combined the academics of the West with Indian subject matter.

Although most of us might be familiar with Sher-Gil's chronology, Dalmia's book sheds light on some aspects of her early life in Europe and specific works that have thus far remained abroad and never been published or discussed in India. Interesting anecdotes such as her frank and honest opinion on the poor collection of the Nizam of Hyderabad, a new discovery of letters Sher-Gil wrote to her cousin (and later husband), and insights from people such as Fori Nehru, a family friend, make the book a delightful read.

It is interesting to note that there are a mere 143 listed paintings by Sher-Gil. Her works are a national treasure. It is no wonder that a buyer paid such a humungous sum for her work. But knowing more about Sher-Gil, her life and work, one might just think he got away cheap!

nitin_bhayana34@vsnl.net