Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings

by Amrita Sher-Gil, Vivan Sundaram (Introduction, Editor)

This self-portrait of the iconic Indian painter Amrita Sher Gil (1913-1941) represents more than a life. For this book in two volumes, Amrita's extant letters and writings are translated and reproduced from the originals, and in their entirety. The book draws on the primary text of these letters to open up a visual narrative around the artist's oeuvre, complemented by a parallel text of notes that not only annotate but also entangle the personal in the web of contemporaneity.

Genres: Art, India, Nonfiction

900 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2010

About the author

Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was an eminent Indian painter born to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian Jewish mother, sometimes known as India's Frida Kahlo, and today considered an important woman painter of 20th century India, whose legacy stands at par with that of the Masters of Bengal Renaissance; she is also the 'most expensive' woman painter of India.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This mammoth work (2 volumes and over 800 pages) gives a wealth of information about an artist who is not as well known as she should be beyond the borders of her own country. Or should that be countries?

For her complexity stems from the fact that she belongs to both East and West and spent much of her life trying to make sense of that. She was born in Hungary to a Sikh father and a Christian mother. (But her mother, a passionate red-haired woman who loved opera, was of Jewish heritage too.) Her earliest years were spent in Hungary but later she moved back to India and lived in Simla. Her childhood was filled with music and dance lessons. But she started to draw and paint very early and her talent was soon noticed by both family and teachers, who decided she must go to Europe for training in art. Eventually she ended up in Paris, at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, and won an award for an early painting.

She decided to return to India. Her mission became to find an Indian way of making art that was independent of the training she had received in the West. Her work was revolutionary and she was highly critical of much of what the Indian artists of her own day were doing. Her oeuvre, considered bizarre and undesirable by some, soon received much notice, and before long she was a celebrity, winning awards, arranging exhibitions, giving talks and writing articles on Indian art. She married a Hungarian cousin, Victor Egan, and shared much happiness and hardship with him as he tried to eke out a living as a doctor. Unfortunately, her life was brought to an abrupt close at a very early age.

This book, edited by her nephew who was born two years after her death, contains journal entries, essays and letters by Amrita, written to family, friends and colleagues. The person who emerges from these pages is very conscious of her own limits and talents. She is sensitive, warm, caring, often ironic and sarcastic, but always passionate about life, family and art.

The text, given on the recto pages, is amplified by extensive notes and lavish colour illustrations on the verso. At the end of the book one can find thumbnail reproductions of most of her works.

[Ankit Bhatia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This two-volume book is a splendid act of archiving and compilation by Vivan Sundaram. The book consists of letters and writings by Amrita Sher-Gil herself. Letters are addressed to family members and friends across the places Sher-Gil lived at and traveled to. Credit must be given to Sundaram, who also happens to be a descendant of Sher-Gil’s family, for meticulously identifying these writings, amassing them from relatives, museums, acquaintances and connects, translating them, and finally, assembling them together for the book.

Moving on to the book’s contents, the first set of letters and writings belong to 1920 -when Amrita was 7 years old! Some post-cards are reproduced as photographs, and you can’t help but predict a future artist as you read through her early letters and see accompanying artwork in most of them. Through a series of such letters and writings, extending up to her death in November, 1941 the book takes you through a highly engrossing journey of Sher-Gil’s life and times.

At the beginning of the book, Sundaram details the lineage of Sher-Gil’s family. It’s a pretty broad, and long lineage – reflective of family structures of the time, with interesting names – reflective of Punjabi households of that time, and some very interesting characters – reflective of India’s aristocracy of the time! There are quite a few achievers in the family too – Vivan Sundaram is a very gifted artist himself, a couple of politically and professionally successful people find their mention in the family tree, and if you extend the tree to the present line of descendants, you may add a few accomplished names too. Namrata Brar – the US Bureau Chief for NDTV, for example, is the great-grand-niece of Sher-Gil (Sher-Gil’s niece, Anup Kaur is Brar’s grandmother and Brar’s mother – Bambi Brar is mentioned in the Acknowledgments).

At the end of the book, though, is perhaps my favorite content – The complete list of art works by the artist. It works as a good reference point to understand Sher-Gil’s motivations and interests through her lifetime, and upon referencing each work intricately as you read along her writings, you do establish the development and psyche of one of the world’s best artists.

With its fabulous content, thorough compilation and a very reverent foreword by Salman Rushdie, this is a highly recommended read!

[Vidhya Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definitive book that has all of her letters & notes by her nephew that gives deep insight to her inner world. A must read for full appreciation of Amrita the person & artist.