“Group of Three Girls”
For today, a treat!
“Group of Three Girls”, also sometimes referred to as “Three Girls”, is an oil on canvas painting pasted on board by the Indian-Hungarian artist, Amrita Sher-Gil, from 1935. Sher-Gil is recognized today as one of the most important Indian artists from the twentieth century whose legacy had a great impact on the modern art movement in India.
In this piece, Sher-Gil painted three teenage women. The women portrayed are three sisters, Nirveer, Beant, and Harbhajan Kaur, who were the daughters of her first cousin. Women were the most common subject of her art, and she painted them in a very expressive manner, which was different from the traditional Indian paintings from the time. Her aim was to paint the lives of the people of India with dignity and grace. Although the background does not reveal it, Sher-Gil painted this while the girls were seated at a tennis court at their home.
This is the first piece Sher-Gil painted after her return to India from studying abroad in Europe. This painting was well-received at its first exhibition and was awarded the gold medal from the Bombay Art Society. The flattened perspective, outlined figures, and simple color and forms shows the influence of Paul Gauguin, who Sher-Gil was exposed to while studying art at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The painting displays her signature saturated red color and earthy palette which she adopted after moving to India.
Sher-Gil gained notoriety in 1932 at just 19 years old for her painting, “Young Girls”. After achieving some success in Europe, she moved back to India in 1934 to bring her art there. Amrita Sher-Gil’s love of both color and her Indian culture was a great motivator for her, and she explored those subjects in her art. Her art style shifted from a kind of academic art to a more modern Indian-influenced style of her own. Her art was unique and stood in stark contrast to the contemporary Bengal school of art that represented India’s modern art movement at the time.
“Group of Three Girls” is currently on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, India.
For more on Amrita Sher-Gil, please visit her short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
