Contents
Amrita Sher-Gil
Helping shape modern Indian painting through portraits and scenes of everyday life.
Young Girls · Three Girls
- Born
- 30 January 1913
- Birthplace
- Budapest, Hungary
- Died
- 5 December 1941
More people
Amrita Sher-Gil
A Hungarian-Indian artist who brought European training into conversation with Indian painting traditions. Her short career developed a distinctive treatment of people, colour and social observation.
Early life
Two cultural worlds
Born to an Indian scholar father and a Hungarian mother; spent formative years in India and Europe.
Paris training
Studied painting in Paris, including at the École des Beaux-Arts.
Career
- 1932
Early recognition
Painted Young Girls while studying in Paris.
- 1934
Returns to India
Turned increasingly toward Indian subjects and visual traditions.
- 1937
Southern journey
Travel in South India informed a major group of paintings.
- 1941
Lahore
Moved to Lahore shortly before her death at 28.
Selected work
Young Girls
An early portrait pairing from her Paris period.
Three Girls
Three seated figures convey stillness and introspection.
Bride’s Toilet
A scene of women preparing a bride, shaped by her Indian artistic studies.
Beyond painting
Music and reading
Was also a pianist and an avid reader.
Family
Married her cousin Victor Egan, a physician, in 1938.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author probably Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (1870–1954). Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
