AMRITA SHER-GILAMRITA SHER-GIL

30January1913Budapest , Austria - Hungary

5 December 1941 (age28)Lahore, British India (present

day Pakistan)

Training Grande Chaumiere , École des Beaux-Arts (1930–34)

Died

Born-

EARLY LIFE

In 1921Her family moved to summer hill, Shimla in India , And soon began learning piano and violin.

By the age of nine she along with her sister Indira were giving concerts and acting in plays at shimla’s Gaiety Theatre at Mall road ,Shimla .

By the age of nine she along with her sister Indira were giving concerts and acting in plays at shimla’s Gaiety Theatre at Mall road ,Shimla .

Though she was already painting since the age of five she formally started learning painting at age of eight .

Amrita Shergil returned to India and began taking lesoons in painting under Ervin Backlay . But Ervin’s insistence that Amrita should copy real life models exactly as she saw them irked Amrita and thus her painting stint under Ervin Backlay was short lived .

In1929In1929

At the age of sixteen ,Amrita Shergil sailed to France to study Art. She took a degree in fine arts from the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. She also learnt to speak and write French . It was in France that she started painting seriously.

relation

marie antoinette gottesmann

Umrao Singh shergill

TRAININGTRAINING

Grande Chaumiere

Ecole des Beaux-Arts

About her About her • Amrita Shergill, one of the most famous painters of India, was born on 30th January

1913 in Budapest city of Hungary. Her father, Umrao Singh Shergill Majithia was a Sikh aristocrat, who was a scholar in Sanskrit. Her mother was a Hungarian singer, Marie Antoinette Gottesmann. Amrita Shergil was the eldest of the two daughters born to her parents, her younger sister being Indira Sundaram, now the mother of the modern artist Vivan Sundaram. The beauty and depth of Amrita Sher Gil's paintings has led to her being popularly called as 'India's Frida Kahlo'. 

• As Amrita Shergill's biography and life history unfolds, we get to know that the painter spent her early childhood in the Dunaharasti village of Hungary. In the year 1921, her family shifted from Hungary to the beautiful hill station of Shimla. It was during her stay in Shimla that Amrita developed an interest in the art of painting and she started receiving tuitions from an Italian sculptor living there. When the painter moved back to Italy in 1924, Amrita and her mother also followed him. After reaching Italy, she joined Santa Anunciata, a Roman Catholic institution.  Recognition

• The works of Amrita Shergill have been declared as National Art Treasures by the Government of India. Most of her paintings adorn the 'National Gallery of Modern Art' in New Delhi. There is also a road named after the painter in Lutyen's Delhi, known as the Amrita Shergill Marg.

Married life & late lifeLahore, British India

Married life & late lifeLahore, British India

Streets of Lahore

In 1939 ,Amrita Shergill returned back to India and started painting again. After her return her health deteriorated and she died on December 6 , 1941. She married purely for security reasons as she felt that she was essentially weak and needed someone to take care of her.

Achievements• One of the most promising Indian artists of the pre-

colonial era; youngest ever and the only Asian to be elected as Associate of the Grand Salon in Paris.

• Amrita Shergill was a renowned Indian painter. She was one of the most charismatic and promising Indian artists of the pre-colonial era. Most of her paintings reflect vividly her love for the country and more importantly her response to the life of its people.

Gallery

Three Girls

Camels, 1941

Brahmacharis

The Child Bride

Hill man ,1935

Portrait of a young man , 1930

Two elephants, 1940

Une Collecte