The exhibition is on display in the Drents Museum in Assen from today Amrita Sher-Gil – ‘Europe is Picasso’s, India is mine’ to see. The exhibition is an ode to Sher-Gil, who is seen as the founder of modern Indian art.
The exhibition was actually supposed to be on display a few months ago, but that was canceled due to the war in Iran and tensions in the Middle East. The Indian government did not give permission to lend the documents.
And the fact that the works can be seen in Assen is quite special. Sher-Gil’s work is considered national heritage and almost never travels. It is also the first time that her art has been exhibited in the Netherlands.
Sher-Gil is an icon in India. “You could compare her to Rembrandt or Van Gogh,” Annemieke Rens, chief curator at the Drents Museum, told NOS.
In India, she is the only woman to belong to the illustrious company of the National Treasure Artists. Those are nine artists who represent Indian culture.
According to Rens, you only get to know Sher-Gil’s art when you see the pieces with your own eyes. “She has a great eye for the ordinary people on the street. Women in particular appeal to her, and you see them a lot in her work. And also the harshness of existence.”
Rens also points to a work of art that The unfinished painting is called. “You see the view from her studio in Lahote, then India, now Pakistan,” she explains. “You see how she builds that painting in a very modern way with color areas of bright red, bright yellow and bright green.”
The painting was never finished, however, because Sher-Gil suddenly fell ill. Amrita Sher-Gil died in December 1941 at the age of 28. A cause of death never becomes clear.
In this way, the life of a remarkable artist comes to an end far too soon. She takes her first drawing and painting lessons in India and turns out to be a real rebel.
As a child, Sher-Gil is expelled from a Catholic school because she says she is an atheist. When she was 16, she went to study in Paris and had relationships with men and women during her French years. She also won a gold medal at the Salon de Paris in 1933 and also became a member of that prestigious company.
But her future lies in India. She returns there in 1934. According to Rens, she immerses herself in Indian culture there and mixes it with learned European traditions. “And of course she also adds her own layer to that.”
The exhibition in the Drents Museum can be seen until September 20.
