Amrita Sher Gill- Modern Art

Amrita Sher Gill was one of the artists that brought a revolution in restoring Indian art against the influence of Mughal art. She even added an edge of modern art to Indian art history along with some other proficient artists.

Owing to her contribution to Indian modern art, she was termed as the ‘Pioneer’ of the same. She was an Indian-Hungarian artist which is why she felt immense sense of belonging to India. Her artworks were mostly composed in two art styles – Post Impressionism and Modern Art. While she was studying in France, she developed a knack towards Post Impressionism, a French art movement. Her artwork, at an initial stage, showed the influence of European art. Soon after she started travelling, she explored more forms of art. The rationale behind her being the emanator of Indian Modern art is her keen self that explored Indian art and began to depict Indian themes using authentic methods.

Virulent

‘Virulent’ is drawn and painted in a similar way as Sher Gill did. The painting is of a fruit, as said by the title, poisonous in nature. It is yet to be plucked. The bold tones and shades are achieved by using knives to work on this artwork. There is a stroke of light that shines upon the fruit as it awaits the arrival of its bearer. The textures and brightness given to the fruit is learnt from the renowned artist’s style of Indian Modern Art. The style mostly contained of human figures, seemingly concrete but processed in a much abstract way.

The strokes made by knives in this painting enabled it to differentiate itself from Sher Gill’s work. Her art used to be painted using a brush. While most of her artworks used to consist of human figures and portraits, my work contains a fruit.

Digital painting by Akanksha Kamalia