Sleep | |
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Artist | Amrita Sher-Gil |
Year | 1933 |
Dimensions | 112.5 cm× 79 cm(44.3 in× 31 in) |
Location | National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi |
Sleep, also called Indu's Nude or Nude of Indira, is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, completed in 1933. It depicts a view from above of Sher-Gil's younger sister Indira, naked and lying on a white sheet at a diagonal, and with one raised arm. Just beneath her is a shawl depicting a dragon, whose body appears to flow in parallel with the flow of her hair and body curves.
Sher-Gil started the painting in 1932 in Paris while also painting a view from the top of Notre-Dame de Paris. Later, it was nearly sold to Nawab Salar Jung and was subsequently displayed at her solo exhibition at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, in 1937. In 1940, the painting was one of six of her works displayed at the Indian Academy of Fine Arts' Amritsar Exhibition. In 2007, it was shown at the Tate Gallery in London.
Despite Sher-Gil's and National Congressman Diwan Chaman Lall's efforts, the painting was never sold and is housed in the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Sleep is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, depicting her younger sister Indira. [1] She started the painting in 1932 in Paris. [1] In June 1932, she wrote to her mother that she was a workaholic painting a view from the top of Notre-Dame de Paris during the day and Sleep all night. She wrote: [1]
These days I am painting a view from the top of the Notre Dame... From 6 O'clock in the evening until there is light I am painting a nude of Indu. You see, I work like a madman, no time even to think.
The painting is a view of Indira from above. She is lying naked and at a diagonal, on a white sheet, with her left arm raised. [2] Just beneath her is a shawl depicting a dragon that appears to copy the flow of her hair and body curves. [3] [4]
In December 1936, the painting was displayed at the exhibition hall in the Public Gardens, Hyderabad. [5] There, the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung, requested that it be delivered to him, along with Three Girls (1935). [6] Hoping that he would purchase it, Sher-Gil also sent him the Villagers and extended her visit. [6] [lower-alpha 1] In January 1937, she wrote to Indira that "I may have sold your nude and the group of young girls to the Nawab Salar Jung, after the Nizam the richest man in Hyderabad, if I were a sycophant". [6] However, after keeping them for several days, the Nawab returned the paintings, commenting that he had "no use for these Cubist pictures". [6] [7]
The painting was number 17 of 33 of Sher-Gil's works displayed at her solo exhibition at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. [8] There, it was priced at ₹1,000 but did not sell. [8] Writing from Budapest on 8 October 1938, Sher-Gil told her parents that she had left the painting she called "Indu's Nude" with the Indian National Congressman and her friend Diwan Chaman Lall "to see if he could palm it off on someone but he wasn't successful". [9] In 1940, the painting was one of six of her works displayed at the Indian Academy of Fine Arts' Amritsar Exhibition, held from 31 October to 10 November, to raise money for the War Fund. [10]
Housed at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Sleep was part of the 2007 exhibition held at the Tate Gallery in London. [11]
According to scholar Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, the painting calls to mind Édouard Manet's Olympia . [4] Former director of the Ernst Museum, Katalin Keserü, who curated several Sher-Gil exhibitions, notes that unlike most of her other nudes, Sleep and Reclining Nude (1933) appear as if possibly painted by a man. [12] She describes Sleep as a "perfect composition". [12]
Amrita Sher-Gil was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an early age, Sher-Gil started formal lessons at the age of eight. She first gained recognition at the age of 19, for her 1932 oil painting Young Girls. Sher-Gil depicted everyday life of the people in her paintings.
Ervin Baktay was an author noted for popularizing Indian culture in Hungary.
Three Girls, also known as Group of Young Girls, is a painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It was painted in 1935 shortly after Sher-Gil returned to India from Europe in 1934. The painting won the Gold Medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937. The painting was part of a batch sent to Nawab Salar Jang of Hyderabad who later rejected them all.
The Story Teller is a 1937 oil painting on canvas by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941). In September 2023 it set a record as the highest-priced Indian artwork sold at auction globally. Blending elements of both Pahari and Parisian influences, the painting depicts a group of village women occupied by ordinary tasks such as chewing betel nut and waving a fan, unconcerned about their surroundings, while a baby cow is seen nosing its way among them. A woman is seated on a traditional bed, engaged in storytelling with the women seated on the floor. Set in an open courtyard, a man stands at the periphery looking across at them.
The Little Girl in Blue is an oil painting on canvas created in India by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil in 1934. Under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972), the work is a national art treasure and must stay in the country. In 2018, it was auctioned by Sotheby's, Mumbai, fetching US$2.67 million.
Young Girls is an oil on canvas painting created by Amrita Sher-Gil in 1932 in Paris. It was awarded a gold medal at the 1933 Paris Salon and earned Sher-Gil an associate membership of that institution. Under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972) it is a national art treasure and is held at the National Gallery of Modern Art at Jaipur House, New Delhi.
Self-Portrait as a Tahitian is an oil painting on canvas created in 1934 in Paris by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It is held in the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, India. Under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972) the work is a national art treasure and must stay in India.
Professional Model is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil. It was created in 1933 in Paris and depicts a nude consumptive. Its vernissage took place in February 1933, the same year that her painting Young Girls earned her the title of associate member of the Paris Salon.
A self-portrait by Amrita Sher-Gil in 1930 shows her as a "vivacious and jovial" character. In it, her hair falls freely and she is wearing a dress that reveals her shoulders. She appears leaning forward towards the viewer, and looks seductive. It has been likened to Renoir's portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary (1877), and Raja Ravi Varma's late 19th century painting, Lady Holding a Fruit. It is one of her 19 self-portraits created in Europe.
Reclining Nude is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, completed in 1933 in Budapest. It depicts Sher-Gil's cousin Viola, sister of her husband Victor Egan.
Young Man with Apples, also called Boris with Apples, is an oil painting on canvas created in 1932 by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, when she was living in Paris.
The Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, exhibited 33 of her paintings at her One-man Show in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. Four paintings were sold in total; The Little Girl in Blue (1934), The Story (1937), Pink Self-portrait, and the The Vina Player (1937).
Hill Women is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, completed after she painted Hill Men in the winter of 1935 at Simla. Depicting a girl among three young women, it was influenced by the poor surrounding Sher-Gil's home in Simla, India.
The Vina Player (1937) is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It was number five of her 33 paintings displayed at her solo exhibition in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. Sher-Gil's mother's favourite, it was initially not for sale, but then acquired by the Lahore Museum, through the encouragement of art critic Charles Fabri and the then museum's curator K. N. Sitaram.
The Village Scene is an oil on canvas painting depicting Indian village life, completed in 1938 by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil.
Brahmacharis is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, completed in May 1937 at Shimla, India. It is one of her large compositions and one of her South Indian trilogy, along with Bride's Toilet and South Indian Villagers Going to Market. In 1937 it was displayed at her Lahore exhibition for a price of ₹1,500.
The Last Unfinished Painting, originally titled On the Roof, is Amrita Sher-Gil's last oil on canvas painting, created from the window of her apartment in Lahore, before her death in December 1941. Her intention was to paint what she could see from her terrace: the milkmen's buffalos that lived near her house. A detailed account of the painting is given in Vivan Sundaram's last unwritten letter, which he dated 1 December 1941. In it is described a mysterious black object that appears in the bottom right corner, though it was erased in a restoration after 1944.
South Indian Villagers going to Market is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It was painted at Sher-Gil's home, The Holme, Shimla, India, around October- November 1937, along with the two smaller compositions The Story Teller and Siesta. It is one of her large compositions and one of her South Indian trilogy, along with Bride's Toilet and Brahmacharis. In 1937 it was displayed at her Lahore exhibition for a price of ₹1,500.
Woman on Charpoy is an oil on canvas painting depicting an Indian woman in red, lying on a charpoy with one leg bent. It was completed in 1940 by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil.