One of the most talented painters ever to
have graced the Indian soil, Amrita Shergil was an artist beyond
compare. Though she lived for just 28 short years, she left an indelible
mark on the history of contemporary Indian art. She is often referred
to as India’s Frida Kahlo, but the comparison doesn’t seem to do her
justice—she was a wonderful artist in her own right, not someone who
needed to be compared to another person for greatness. Born to an Indian
Punjabi father, Amrita was by no means a typical Indian woman. Her
mother was a Hungarian and Amrita was born in Budapest. She began
painting by herself as a five year old and her parents arranged for her
to have lessons later on after seeing her talents. When she grew up into
a gifted teenager her mother took her to Europe to expose her daughter
to various genres of paintings. However, it was only after coming back
to India did Amrita realize her full potential. Her paintings were the
perfect blend of Western and Indian techniques which gave them an exotic
appeal combined with earthiness.
She
was born in Budapest, Hungary to Umrao Singh Shergil, a Sikh aristocrat
and his Jewish Hungarian wife, Marie Antoniette Gottesmann. She had one
younger sister, Indira.
Her
family moved to Shimla, India in 1921 where the sisters began learning
piano and violin. The talented girls even gave concerts. Amrita
displayed an interest in painting from a young age and formally started
learning when she was eight.
Amrita’s
mother recognized her talents and took her to Italy in 1924 where she
got her enrolled at Santa Annunziata, an art school. Here she got
exposed to works of Italian art.
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