PHOTOS: Delhi Hungarian Cultural Centre commemorated famous Hungarian-Indian painter

On January 31,2023 Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre Delhi launched the project AMRITA110 to commemorate the 110th birthday of famous painter, Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941) at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Marianne Erdő, Director of Liszt Institute-Hungarian Cultural Centre Delhi and Ms. Temsunaro Jamir, Director of National Gallery of Modern Arts, Delhi.

A famous Hungarian painter in India

The project has around 20 programmes with various partners and at different venues all throughout the year to celebrate the 110th birth anniversary of the Hungarian-Indian painter, Amrita Sher-Gil.

Liszt Institute’s mission is to tell more about the Hungarian roots of Amrita Sher-Gil, the influence of her Hungarian childhood on her life and work and to celebrate the sadly short but very rich and creative life of the strongest link between Hungary and India. Amrita Sher-Gil has been called as one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th Century and a pioneer in Indian modern art. Her art education was completed in Paris where she was influenced by artists like Gauguin. She returned to India in the mid 1930s to make India her home. She looked at the Indian art traditions with a fresh eye. Sher-Gil’s visual language introduced a host of new elements in modern Indian art as the expressive representation of the female figure and her ingeniously narrating elements of miniature paintings in her work.

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Here are some photos of the commemoration:

“India belongs only to me”

The inauguration was followed by a curated tour of the Amrita Sher-Gill collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art consisting of important works. The event was attended by diplomats, artists and other distinguished invitees. It is understood that the special exhibition of Amrita Sher-Gil paintings at the National Gallery of Modern Art will be open to the public for a month.

Amrita Sher-Gil said :
“I can only paint in India. Elsewhere I am not natural, I have no self-confidence. Europe belongs to Picasso, Matisse, Braque and many others. India belongs only to me.”

Here are some of her paintings:

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Guest author: Gopalan Rajamani