Amrita Sher-Gil was an eminent 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 at a young age, Sher-Gil started getting formal lessons in the art, at the age of eight. Sher-Gil first gained recognition at the age of 19, for her oil painting entitled Young Girls (1932).

She traveled throughout her life, to countries including Europe, Turkey, France and India, deriving heavily from their art styles and cultures. Sher-Gil is considered an important woman painter of 20th-century India, whose legacy stands at par with that of the pioneers of Bengal Renaissance. She was also an avid reader and a pianist. Sher-Gil’s paintings are among the most expensive by Indian women painters today, although few acknowledged her work when she was alive.*

– Femcylopaedia by Kirthi Jayakumar