Her work remained unacknowledged in her lifetime but post death Amrita Sher-Gil was iconised as the one who revolutionised modern Indian art in a short span of seven years.
Dwelling more into her life and work, art historian Yashodhara Dalmia paints the portrait of the young artist in her book "Amrita Sher-Gil: Art and Life, A Reader" published by Oxford University Press.
The book contains essays on Sher-Gil and her work by writers from four countries -India, Hungary, UK and Pakistan.
It also contains a rare literary work retrieved from the novel "Indian Flamingo" penned by Charles Fabri. The by now forgotten novel is a thinly-disguised story of Fabri's own fascination with Sher-Gil after meeting her in Lahore in 1937.
Born in Budapest in January 1913, Sher-Gil spent the first eight years of her life in Hungary and the next eight in Shimla.
"She is considered as the most expensive woman painter of India. But I think more than expensive, precious would be the right word. She was the golden link between India and our country," says Szilveszter Bus, Ambassador-Designate of Hungary.
Bus was participating at the launch of the book here late last evening.
Director Ebrahim Alkazi in his movie "Amrita Sher-Gil: The Bridge Builder" says, "This young woman in her twenties had the capacity to think clearly in terms of art and express her extraordinary courage. In a short time of seven years, from 1934 to 1941, she revolutionised Indian art. She changed the face of Indian art.
