Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life

Amrita Sher-Gil’s life was as filled with passion and colour as her canvasses. Beautiful and brilliant, she lived life on her own terms, scandalizing the staid society of her times with her love affairs and unconventional ways. Born in 1913 in Budapest, to a Hungarian mother and a Sikh father, Amrita spent her early years in Hungary, India, as well as France, where she studied at the renowned Ecole des Beaux Arts. Before her untimely death in 1941, she left behind a body of work that not only establishes her as one of the foremost artists of the century but also as a most eloquent symbol of fusion between the East and the West. In this fascinating biography, art historian Yashodhara Dalmia charts the course of Amrita’s turbulent life, and the development of her dazzling artistic career, as she traces the influences that shaped her, examines her relationships with her family, friends, lovers and mentors, and captures her charismatic aura. Extensively researched and brimming with reminiscences of those who knew Amrita, this is a compelling portrait of the artist who, when she died at the tragically young age of twenty-eight, was probably unaware of her own greatness and of her priceless legacy to Indian art.