Three Girls | |
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![]() Left to right: Nirveer Kaur (Nairy), Beant Kaur and Harbhajan Kaur (Sando) | |
Artist | Amrita Sher-Gil |
Year | 1935 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 92.5 cm× 66.6 cm(36.4 in× 26.2 in) |
Location | National Gallery of Modern Art [1] , New Delhi |
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. [2] 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 painting portrays the three daughters of Mahinder (Mahindro) Kaur (1897-1939), daughter of Sundar Singh Majithia, and Mangal Singh Mann of Koschera (1891-1966); Nirveer Kaur (Nairy) (1914-1975), Beant Kaur (1915-1990), and Harbhajan Kaur (Sando) (1919-1957). [3]
The painting shows three colourfully dressed women contemplating a destiny they are unable to change. Amrita Sher-Gil did not sensualise her women but instead portrayed them as facing great adversity yet having the spirit to transcend a destiny that they were unable to change. [4]
Sher-Gil wrote: [1]
I realized my real artistic mission, to interpret the life of Indians and particularly the poor Indians pictorially; to paint those silent images of infinite submission and patience,... to reproduce on canvas the impression those sad eyes created on me.
The painting reflects the influence of the works of French painter Paul Gauguin on Sher-Gil's work. [4] It also marks Sher-Gil's move from an earlier academic and realist style of painting that she had learned in Paris towards a flatter style with modern compositions, where line and colour are prominently used. In Three Girls, the girls' surrounding is not shown. Their situation is made evident through their facial expressions, their body language, and the skillful use of tones. [5]
In December 1936 the painting was displayed at the exhibition at Public Gardens, Hyderabad. [6] There, the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung, requested that it be delivered to him, along with the Nude of Indu . [7] Hoping that he would purchase it, Sher-Gil also sent him Villagers, and extended her visit, but he returned it, commenting that he had "no use for these Cubist pictures". [7] [8]
The painting won the Gold Medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937. [9] It was the eleventh of 33 of Sher-Gil's works displayed at her solo her solo exhibition at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. [10] There, it was priced at ₹700. [10]
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.
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. It is a national art treasure under India's Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972), and is held at the National Gallery of Modern Art at Jaipur House, New Delhi.
The untitled self portrait by Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941), is an oil on canvas painting completed in 1931 in Paris, and gifted to her friend Boris Taslitzky. It was created in the same year that she produced portraits of Yusuf Ali Khan, who she was engaged to, and Viktor Egan, her cousin who she later married. In 2015 it was sold for £1.7 million at auction in London.
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.
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.
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 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.
Child Wife, also known as Child Bride (1936), is an oil on canvas painting by Hungarian-Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil. It measures 53 × 76 cm, and belongs to the Saraya private collection.
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, India, shortly before her death in December 1941. Her intention was to paint what she could see from her terrace: the milkmen's buffaloes 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.