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It's a bright February day, the whisper of spring is in the air and the lawns of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, are blooming with colour. As one steps inside, it seems that the hues from outside have amalgamated on the canvasses on display. Rich swathes of colour, expressive faces, profound interpretations of the human form can be seen in the paintings which are being showcased to celebrate the birth centenary of Amrita Sher-Gil. Titled Amrita Sher-Gil: The Passionate Quest, the exhibition presents for the first time the entire NGMA collection of around 100 works, including paintings that have rarely been displayed before.
Sher-Gil's visual language abounds with delightful experiments with form and composition. This richness has been analysed by art historian and curator Yashodhara Dalmia. "Many paintings from the Paris period, after she trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, have not been seen before," says Dalmia, author of a biography of the artist, Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life. "These include many self-portraits. Each of these showcases her process of painting - sometimes she looks excited, sometimes reflective, sometimes troubled - but at all times, you see the involvement with the act of painting."
The art works on display narrate her journey as an artist, from a young art student trying to explore her own hybrid identity to nudes inspired by Paul Gauguin as seen in Self Portrait as Tahitian (1934), and then moving onto more modern, realist-style of painting during her stay in India, reflected in works like Three Girls (1935). "We see a burst of colour when she reaches India from the grey studios of the West," says Dalmia who has classified the exhibition into four perspectives: Threshold, Icon and Iconoclastic, Hungarian Manifestation and Indian Journey.
Her return to India in 1934 exposed her to Mughal miniature paintings and cave paintings at Ajanta and Ellora, something that was to have a huge impact on her art. Karl Khandalavala, noted art collector, wrote this about Sher-Gil: "In studies such as The Bride's Toilet and South Indian Villagers Going to the Market, she has captured the spirit of Ajanta in a manner that no other modern Indian artist has done...the construction of the frescoes, their design, their plasticity, their line and their atmosphere have been remoulded by her into another but vital and living achievement."
Sher-Gil's works speak to different people differently. Some find the female forms incredibly sensuous, while others find the projections of the female identity deeply melancholic. For Dalmia, there is a captivating duality in her work. "The forms, particularly of women, are lyrical but at the same time they show despair, as seen in the portrait of a bride who is dressed in flamboyant colours but her face is full of foreboding," she says.
Evocative photographs from Dalmia's collection and personal letters from the Nitin Bhayana collection throw further insight into the workings of Sher-Gil's mind. "It is an insider's view into the very act of painting. It's like you have entered the room and mind of an artist who first extensively portrayed Indian women in modern art," says Dalmia.
Amrita Sher-Gil: The Passionate Quest is on at NGMA, New Delhi, till March 2
