Multiple Authors
Untitled [A set of 10 books on Amrita Sher-Gil]
a) Vivan Sundaram, Geeta Kapur, G R Sheikh and K G Subramanyan, Amrita Sher-Gil Bombay: Marg Publications, March 1972
144 pages including 76 black and white photographic plates and 11 colour photographs; hardbound with dust jacket
12.25 x 9.5 in (31 x 24 cm)
b) Sher-Gil, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1965
7-page essay by Baldoon Dhingra + 25 plates
Stiff cards with dust jacket
7 x 5 in (18 x 12.5 cm)
c) Amrita Sher-Gil: ICON - Works and Memorabilia from her Last Years.
unpaginated; bound in half leather as issued, with copies of Sher-Gil's photographs pasted on black sheets like in an album.
9.75 x 6.5 in (25 x 16.5 cm)
Catalogue of an exhibition held at Chatterjee and Lal, Mumbai in 2004.
d) Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil: His Misery And His Manuscript, New Delhi: Photoink, 2008
xiv + 254 pages including 142 color and black-and-white plates; clothbound hardcover with dust jacket
11 x 9 in (28 x 23 cm)
Foreword by Vivan Sundaram; essay by Deepak Ananth. Published in conjunction with the exhibition held at Photoink, New Delhi, 2008.
"The remarkable photographs that Umrao Singh took over sixty years, beginning in 1889, include autochromes (almost unknown in India then) and stereographic photographs. It was after he married (for a second time) Marie Antoinette Gottesmann-Baktay, a Hungarian opera singer, in 1912, that the family album began to assume the proportions of an archive. The couple left Lahore for Budapest soon after their marriage, and their daughters, Amrita and Indira, were born there. World War I forced them to stay on in Hungary till 1921, when they returned to India and set up home in Simla. By then photography had become second nature to Umrao Singh. He was curious about the latest inventions and consulted manuals; yet, strangely, there is little mention of photography in his letters and documents. His photographic archive constitutes a legacy that highlights the role of personal agency in the construction of a modern subject. The hundreds of photographs he took form an extraordinary record of the life-world of an Indo-European family and a valuable document in the archives of modernity. He deserves to be seen as a pioneering figure of Indian photography." (Foreword from the book)
e) Vivan Sundram, Re-take of Amrita: Digital Photomontages, Tulia Books, 2001
56 pages; paperback
9.75 x 8.5 in (24.5 x 21.5 cm)
"Re-take of ‘Amrita’ is a book of 38 digital photomontages by Vivan Sundaram, with a preface and annotation by the artist-author. These montages are the result of a ‘collaborative’ photographic project between Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (1870–1954), the ‘essential’ photographer (who took numerous self-portraits), and Vivan Sundaram, who orchestrates archival photographs of the Sher-Gil family. Vivan enters the space of the Sher-Gil homes and makes the members of the family enact (and re-enact) moments of radiating desire under his direction. The ‘encounters’ generated in this process of recasting the family in new roles elaborate into a fictional narrative. The central axis of the ‘cinematic plot’ is the relationship between the father, Umrao Singh, and the artist-daughter, Amrita (1913–41)." (Foreword from the book)
f) Vivan Sundaram, Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings, New Delhi: Tulika Books, 2010
Two volumes in original publisher’s cloth-backed boards, housed in matching printed slipcase; hardcover with illustrated dust jackets; pp. 888 (combined). Illustrated throughout with colour and black-and-white photographs, artworks, and facsimiles
Each volume approx. 11.25 x 8 inches (29 x 20.5 cm)
"This self-portrait of the iconic Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941) represents more than a life. For this book in two volumes, Amrita's extant letters and writings are translated and reproduced from the originals and in their entirety. The book draws on the primary text of these letters to open up a visual narrative around the artist's oeuvre, complemented by a parallel text of notes that not only annotate but also entangle the personal in the web of contemporaneity. The editorial intervention expands the setting to include the artist's voice, photographs from the Sher-Gil family album, a collation of reviews from contemporary art critics, and excerpts from autobiographies and testimonies that touched Amrita's life. There are full-colour reproductions of 147 paintings by the artist, representing the largest such collection in print, as well as of her early sketches and watercolours. This archival effort makes for a definitive volume on the life, art and writings of Amrita Sher-Gil.
The book has a foreword by Salman Rushdie; a prologue and an epilogue by Vivan Sundaram; a complete list of Amrita Sher-Gil's 172 known oil paintings with thumbnail sketches and detailed captions, and a select bibliography of writings by and on Amrita Sher-Gil." (Foreword from the book)
g) Artistes Indiens en France, Paris: Centre national des arts plastiques, 1985
60 pages; card covers. Text entirely in French
12 x 8.5 in (30.5 x 22 cm)
Text entirely in French. Published on the occasion of the exhibition Artistes Indiens en France, held from 16 October to 30 November 1985 in Paris, this catalogue showcases the works of prominent Indian artists who lived and worked in France. Featured artists include Amrita Sher-Gil, Jogen Chowdhury, and Rajendra Dhawan, among others. The publication offers insights into the cross-cultural exchanges between Indian and French art scenes during the 20th century.
h) L’Illustration, No. 4990, Paris: L’Illustration, June 1938
[Approx. 40pp]. Complete issue, Illustrated throughout; original pictorial wrappers
15 x 11.25 in (38 x 28.5 cm)
Text in French. A rare and significant issue of the influential French weekly magazine L’Illustration, featuring a striking full-length sepia-toned portrait of Amrita Sher-Gil on the cover—one of the earliest full-page international magazine covers devoted to the artist.
The issue also includes two interior photographs, one of which shows Sher-Gil at work, seated in front of her easel. These images, along with the accompanying article, underscore her prominence in the Parisian art world of the 1930s and her growing international recognition.
i) Geeta Doctor, Amrita Sher Gil: A Painted Life, New Delhi: Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd., 2002
96 pages. Illustrated throughout with colour plates and archival photographs; hardcover with dust jacket
6.5 x 5.25 in (16.5 x 13.5 cm)
Text in English. This richly illustrated monograph presents a concise yet vivid portrait of Amrita Sher-Gil’s life and artistic legacy. Written by noted art critic and writer Geeta Doctor, the book traces Sher-Gil’s journey from her formative years in Europe to her pioneering contributions to Indian modernism.
Combining biographical narrative with critical analysis, A Painted Life features over 50 illustrations, including key paintings, letters, and rarely seen photographs. It offers an accessible entry point for general readers and collectors alike into the life and work of one of India’s most iconic modern artists.
j) Charles Fabri, Indian Flamingo, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1947
212 pages; hardcover
7.5 x 5 in (19 x 12.5 cm)
Indian Flamingo is an early and evocative fictionalized biography inspired by the life of Amrita Sher-Gil, written by Hungarian-born art critic and historian Charles Fabri, who was among the first to champion her work in India. Though presented as a novel, the narrative draws heavily on Sher-Gil’s European upbringing, artistic journey, and her brief but luminous career, reflecting Fabri’s personal admiration and insight into the Indian art world of the time.
The title refers metaphorically to Sher-Gil’s elegance, beauty, and distinctive presence in the cultural landscape of early 20th-century India.
(Set of ten)