A Hungarian-Indian Family of Artists – Master and Disciple

Curated by Judit Bagi (Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts, Archive)

„Great art everywhere has the same roots and the comprehension of the one brings in its wake the true appreciation of the other.” (Amrita Sher-Gil)

The artistic legacy of the Sher-Gil family – spanning various, closely interconnected fields of art, culminating in the painting of Amrita Sher-Gil – is a treasure shared not only by India and Hungary, but the whole of humanity. The jubilee exhibition, realized through a collaboration between the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Center Delhi and the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asiatic Arts, presents the life of the family, as well as the artistic development of Amrita Sher-Gil through exploring the intertwined creative practices of Umrao Sher-Gil, Amrita and Ervin Baktay.

The eight thematic groups of the exhibition bring Amrita Sher-Gil's brilliant, innovative character to life through a unique collection of photographs, while uncovering the main threads of inspiration for her “soul-painting” – her father's photography and her uncle's wide-ranging scientific work.

The exhibition presents Amrita Sher-Gil's eventful career through photographs from Ervin Baktay’s bequest preserved at the Ferenc Hopp Museum of Asian Art in Hungary – most of them taken by Umrao Sher-Gil – supplemented by photographs from the Sher-Gil Archive in India. These pictures were sent to family members living in Hungary by the Sher-Gil family – for the most part by Marie-Antoniette. The self- and family portraits, mostly taken by Umrao Sher-Gil, gave a glimpse into their everyday lives. The exhibited photographs were taken between the years 1889 and 1954 in several locations, mainly in Lahore, Budapest, Dunaharaszti and Paris. Umrao’s self-portrait photography is characterized by a painterly approach.

Besides the 137 archival photographs, eight original paintings by Amrita Sher-Gil are on display as the highlight of the exhibition, owing to the generous support of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi.

The exhibition awaits visitors in Delhi for two months, then further moves to Kolkata, reaching its final destination in Mumbai.