67
1
A Feminist Focus
in Indian Painting
T h e p a i n t i n g of some artists of modern India
has given cause for reflection o n the lives of
Indian w o m e n . P a i n t i n g i n modern India has
tended to be a representational and socially-
conscious art. N o t a l l of it by any means: one
c o u l d point out that the whole gamut of interna-
tional styles i n p a i n t i n g has been reflected i n
India. But many Indian artists have rejected
"abstract" art as not appropriate for them i n
their situation and i n the late sixties and
1
through the seventies there has been a marked
development of a n art w h i c h expresses quite
directly the social awareness and social concerns
of artists. Indian p a i n t i n g of this period has
2
documented poverty, alienation, a n d social
3 4
violence, particularly i n urban India.
5
Perhaps it is inevitable that i n creating an art
of this sort some artists should have turned their
attention to Indian women. T h e patriarchal
structures of Indian society are w e l l - k n o w n as
are the customs of the traditional society w h i c h
have restricted or oppressed women - for exam-
ple, the marriage of g i r l children, the seclusion
of women, the denial of educational o p p o r t u n i -
ties and the refusal to a l l o w widows to remarry.
A new day seemed to have dawned w i t h the
emergence of women into p u b l i c life i n the
Independence Movement and i n the post-Indepen-
dence era. T h e present Prime Minister, M r s .
G a n d h i , has seemed i n herself to constitute proof
that Indian w o m e n have attained a new status i n
modern India. A n d , indeed, Indian women have
made remarkable gains. There are strong a n d
competent w o m e n i n p u b l i c life. But the 1975
Atlantis Vol. 8 No.
Fall/Automne 1982
67-77
Frank Thompson
University of Waterloo
report of the N a t i o n a l Committee o n the Status
of W o m e n i n India tended to show c o n t i n u i n g
problems for w o m e n a n d a deteriorating situa-
tion i n some areas. T h e Committee reported
c o n t i n u i n g evidence of the marriage of c h i l d
brides. It f o u n d that female mortality i n most
6
parts of the country was higher than that of
m e n , that female literacy lags behind that of
7
m e n , a n d that the representation of women i n
8
the labour force has actually markedly declined
i n recent years. T h e Committee considered the
9
apparent cause of some of these trends; for
example, that female mortality c o u l d be related
to female n u t r i t i o n , w h i c h was itself related to
10
perceptions of the inferior worth of women. It
found that a c o n t i n u i n g general problem for
w o m e n was one of role expectations: " A w o m a n
is still p r i m a r i l y associated w i t h the home ...
Decision-making for the c o m m u n i t y and the
exercise of p o l i t i c a l power is still regarded as a n
exclusive male preserve." Commitments to the
11
education of girls are of course hampered by
views of this sort. T h e report of the N a t i o n a l
Committee o n the Status of W o m e n was the
result of a four-year inspection of the condition
of w o m e n i n Indian society. T h e perceptions of
some painters since that time "take u p the tale."
Indeed, w h i l e the Committee was still sitting,
one Indian painter addressed himself to the issue
i n paint. M a q b u l F i d a H u s a i n is probably the
best k n o w n of modern Indian painters. H e is a
m a n of protean creativity w h o has been called
"the Indian Picasso" and w h o frequently paints
topical works. H e produced i n 1974 a work entitled
Cage 7, w h i c h n o w hangs i n the N a t i o n a l
G a l l e r y of M o d e r n A r t i n D e l h i . It shows o n the
right side a naked female f o r m squatting i n
claustrophobic confinement - regarded from the
other side of the p a i n t i n g by a bearded male
figure h o l d i n g a h i g h l y metaphorical bird i n a
cage!
T h e case of H u s a i n is apposite here, not o n l y
because of the contemporary relevance of Cage.
T h i s "statement" is exceptional for h i m and its
existence highlights the degree to w h i c h Husain's
art incorporates a traditional image of w o m a n ,
one w h i c h must constitute a major block to any
realistic focus on w o m e n i n India. T h e tradi-
tional image of w o m a n envisions her as "earth
mother": an ample, sensual, chthonic f o r m
e v o k i n g at one and the same time an aesthetic
and sensuous response. T h e evolution of this
image i n the l o n g history of I n d i a n traditional
art has been described by H e i n r i c h Zimmer, a n d
i n describing it he more than once makes refer-
ence to its c o n t i n u i n g appeal, as w h e n he says of
a slender Parvati of Elephanta T e m p l e that her
form retains " s o m e t h i n g of the sweet heaviness
-that more robust substantiality - w h i c h remains
to the end the fundamental I n d i a n requirement
of w o m a n . " H u s a i n ' s art over the years has
1 2
incorporated the m o n u m e n t a l conception of the
female figure w h i c h he is said to have discovered
i n the temple statuary of K h a j u r a h o . 13
Artists of the present day w h o focus i n a realis-
tic way o n the situation of w o m e n , or o n the
personhood of w o m e n , are rebels against the
traditional image w h i c h is pervasive outside the
d o m a i n of Fine Arts - i n films and i n advertising,
for example - and w h i c h c o n t i n u a l l y recurs i n
p a i n t i n g . Naren Panchal, mentioned i n a survey
of y o u n g artists by the Illustrated Weekly of
India a few years a g o , does nudes of statuesque
14
proportions. They are splendid images. T h e dif-
ficulty w i t h them when considering the histori-
cal fate of w o m e n is that the image treats w o m e n
i n impersonal terms, i n what has become a
cliche l i n k i n g w o m a n w i t h nature, a cliche rein-
forced - i n the best examples of the genre at any
rate - by its sensuous appeal. By contrast, the
feminist focus described i n this article relates
directly to women i n their social situations or i n
the uniqueness of their persons.
N o t that the convention is incapable of sub-
serving honesty and compassion! Another of
India's w e l l - k n o w n artists, K r i s h n a H e b b a r , is
15
a master of the evocative and sensuous line
w h i c h is a hallmark of Indian art from the earli-
est ages. T h e traditional image of w o m a n as
"earth mother," splendidly ample, like early
representations of L a k s m i , goddess of abun-
dance, is found i n some of the drawings of H e b -
b a r , though a taut line a n d trim figure prevails
16
i n the depictions of women i n his paintings. B u t
Hebbar happens also to be one of the artists of
contemporary India whose work has exhibited,
over time, a lively social awareness. T h e tradi-
17
tional image of w o m a n is i m p l i c i t i n one of his
paintings, City Life, of 1968. Yet the p a i n t i n g
goes far beyond the evocation of the traditional
image. It poignantly evokes the situation of the
destitute w o m a n i n a modern Indian city. T h i s
use of the image is, again, exceptional.
Another version of the traditional image of
w o m a n found i n modern p a i n t i n g is less sensu-
ous. It realizes the decorative values of female
figures, usually as adjuncts to landscape. T h u s
one finds "village w o m e n " portrayed by many
I n d i a n artists, particularly those of the " o l d
s c h o o l " of the period before Independence. T h e
Bengali artist J a m i n i R o y presented lush figures
of " t r i b a l g i r l s " at an early stage i n his career.
N . S. Bendre, a senior a n d justly respected
Indian artist and teacher of art n o w l i v i n g i n
retirement i n Bombay has painted many evoca-
tions of rural India, Village Women being the
title of one of them. These paintings are master-
ful compositions, immensely decorative. But i n
them the creative i m a g i n a t i o n abides w i t h i n aes-
thetic and artistic conventions and refrains from
any p r o b i n g insight.
 Perhaps the I n d i a n artist best k n o w n for por-
trayal of " v i l l a g e w o m e n " i n this soft focus is
herself a w o m a n , M r s . B. Prabha, also of B o m -
bay. A n early p a i n t i n g of hers, reproduced i n a
book o n modern I n d i a n art, d i d i n fact appear
18

to express an insight into the real conditions of

the lives of village w o m e n . B u t a large volume of
work produced since that time has presented
essentially romantic images of w o m e n i n agree-
able c o m p o s i t i o n s . Mrs. Prabha's work does
19

not appear to be feminist i n any sense. A n d it is

at least arguable that a lack of seriousness of
intent i n the execution of many of these works
vitiates their quality as art.

Where then is a feminist focus i n Indian paint-

ing? O n e finds it emerging at an early stage i n
the development of modern Indian p a i n t i n g . A
key figure i n breaking the traditional stereotype
of w o m e n i n art, and a key figure as w e l l i n
setting I n d i a n p a i n t i n g o n the more rigorously
" r e a l i s t i c " course it has tended to f o l l o w ever
since, was A m r i t a S h e r - G i l ; her pioneering
influence has been recognized by a small gallery
of her works i n the N a t i o n a l G a l l e r y of M o d e r n
A r t i n D e l h i . She was born i n 1913. She studied
art i n Paris where she was especially influenced
by the style of P a u l G a u g i n . R e t u r n i n g to India
she succeeded i n u s i n g her imported style as a
vehicle for representation of a n d reflection u p o n
her Indian experience. In d o i n g so she rejected
20

the romantic image of w o m a n as well as the

self-conscious traditionalism of the contempor-
ary Bengal School of Indian art. W h i l e many of
21

her paintings convey qualities of traditional life,

her studies of h u m a n figures are realistic a n d
disenchanted. Paintings of " h i l l " men and w o m -
en convey what must be seen as the sad, u n c u l t i -
vated, unused quality of their lives. It w o u l d
seem, from a feminist point of view, that this was
a salutory disenchantment. A m r i t a S h e r - G i l ,
tragically, d i d not live to consummate the devel-
opment of her o w n art as she died i n 1941.

A m r i t a S h e r - G i l had a direct influence o n

UNTITLED DRAWING by Krishna Hebbar some painters of the post-Independence era,
however, w i t h K r i s h n a Hebbar being conspicu-
ous a m o n g them. A n d w h i l e she is by no means
the sole predisposing influence to this orienta-
t i o n , it c o u l d be said that the quality of her
22
vision is intensified i n painters w h o enquire
today into the h u m a n condition i n India and
w h o do not f l i n c h from i m a g i n g urban poverty
and social violence.
T h i s directness of vision is found a m o n g
artists from a l l parts of India but it achieves its
most consistent and its most intense expression
NEWLY MARRIED COUPLE, watercolour by
Shyamal Dutta Ray
i n the p a i n t i n g of Calcutta, i n what the Bengali
art critic Sandip Sarkar has c a l l e d ' 'The Art Born
of C r i s i s . " N i k h i l Biswas (who died i n 1966)
23
and Bijan C h o w d h u r y use the male figure to
express the tensions and violence of their time.
Shyamal Dutta-Ray turns a savage eye upon his
city i n depictions of ruined buildings, urban
wastes and skeletal bovines and humans. In a
water colour entitled Newly Married Couple he
shows a village bride and groom a m i d the deso-
lation of Calcutta.
 A n d it is here especially, among the painters of
Calcutta, that one finds a feminist focus: a paint-
i n g expressive of awareness of the c o n d i t i o n of
w o m e n . It may be seen i n paintings by Isha
M u h a m m e d , a member of the Calcutta Painters
g r o u p , and P r i n c i p a l of the Government C o l -
24
lege of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta. Isha M u h a m m e d
is a skilled portraitist. But occasionally he pro-
duces paintings i n w h i c h perceptions of Indian
society are conveyed by metaphor. In A p r i l of
1981 he was w o r k i n g o n a p a i n t i n g of his wife
CAPTIVITY, partially complete painting by Isha
Muhammed, April 1981, Calcutta
and daughter seated together i n what appeared
to be a conveyance. T h e p a i n t i n g was provision-
a l l y e n t i t l e d Captivity a n d the l i m i t a t i o n s
i m p i n g i n g o n mother a n d daughter were sym-
bolized by a large padlock.
T h e feminist focus of Calcutta p a i n t i n g emer-
ges more strongly i n the works of Bikash Bhatta-
charjee. Bikash is a faculty member of the
Government College of Arts a n d Crafts i n C a l -
cutta a n d has been for many years a member of
another major Calcutta g r o u p , the Society of
Contemporary A r t i s t s . H e works i n oils a n d
25
has a formidable reputation a m o n g artists i n
Bengal for his mastery of the m e d i u m . H e is even
better k n o w n for the subject-matter of his paint-
ings, however, i n w h i c h he " h o l d s u p the m i r -
r o r " to an essentially conservative Bengali society.
" N o b o d y has ever so mercilessly and under-
s t a n d i n g ^ exposed the psyche of the urban intel-
ligentsia of the Bengali m i d d l e class," says a
Bengali art c r i t i c . T h e critic adds that the
26
p a i n t i n g of B i k a s h reveals also "the potential
experience of a l l little m e n . " More to the point
2 7
here, of course, is what his p a i n t i n g reveals of the
potential experience of w o m e n .
In a series of paintings developed since the
mid-seventies under the title She, Bikash looks at
the women of Calcutta. These works have a
quality of gritty rapportage. T h e y are presented
for the most part w i t h o u t metaphor or conspic-
uous interpretation - a n d one m i g h t add, w i t h -
out compassion. H e often depicts middle class or
"society" w o m e n : one such is s h o w n unctuously
s n i p p i n g a tape at a n " o p e n i n g . " What becomes
visible i n these paintings is a deeply etched car-
nality, a grasping nature t h i n l y veiled by cos-
tumes a n d roles of an accepted sort. There are
also the inevitable prostitutes. B i k a s h does not
like what he sees, apparently. O n e might ask,
however, whether he sees enough: do not women
f i l l some positive roles even i n middle class
society? B u t the paintings as they stand reveal the
k i n d of stereotyping and restriction of the social
roles of w o m e n exposed by western writers such
as Germaine G r e e r and Betty F r i e d a n .
28 29
Some, at least, of these "reports" from the
Calcutta m i l i e u do have i m p l i c a t i o n s for an
understanding of Indian society far beyond C a l -
cutta. In She and Evening Light, a p a i n t i n g of
1979, Bikash reports o n the segregation and iso-
lation of w o m e n : a w o m a n stands alone, h o l d -
i n g a transistor radio i n a desolate cityscape of
rooftops. O n e should add i n explanation that
the segregation of w o m e n has been traditional i n
parts of India and that the place where a w o m a n
lives m u c h of her life may well be the rooftop of a
house i n an Indian city. Segregation i n a gen-
uinely traditional society need not i m p l y isola-
t i o n , but rather the company of other women.
Isolation is experienced when traditional life-
styles are persisted i n outside of traditional
communities, i n cities to w h i c h people come
singly or i n couples, leaving the joint family of
the village or the countryside. Here women may
experience the most devastating isolation a n d
loneliness. T h i s is true not only i n India, partic-
ularly i n new industrial cities such as D u r g a p u r
i n West Bengal, but also i n i m m i g r a n t societies
such as the U n i t e d K i n g d o m a n d i n Canada.
Other paintings i n the She series also reach
beyond Calcutta. Dasi (the designation i n former
times of a temple or religious prostitute) links
religion w i t h the sexual exploitation of women.
In the p a i n t i n g a mask of a w a r m and sensuous
face is superimposed o n another mask and yet
another. B e h i n d them a l l is the face of the
exploiter - fat, cynical, powerful - and, of course,
male. Yet another p a i n t i n g is topical. In it
Bikash reacts to a story of rape. O n the lower
level of the p a i n t i n g a politician sits staring from
his portrait, his face suspicious, closed - but con-
fident. Over his head a w o m a n screams a n d
fights her attacker. In conversation the artist
mentioned a specific case i n another part of
India as the catalyst for this p a i n t i n g .
Are a l l of Bikash's perceptions so negative? By
n o means. But some are deeply ambivalent i n
what they m i g h t suggest. T h i s is the case w i t h
paintings i n w h i c h Bikash uses representations
of a C h o l a bronze of Parvati, wife of Siva. T h e
famous South Indian bronzes were created from
the tenth century. T h i s one i n particular is a
lithely beautiful symbol of divine humanity. But
i n his paintings Bikash situates the figure i n a
number of improbably but indisputably Calcut-
tan settings, a l l reeking, so to speak, of decay.
What does one infer? Is the symbol set forward
ironically or does it make a statement to be
understood straightforwardly? Of course it is
impossible to say, since artistic integrity resists a
merely verbal interpretation of a painterly and
artistic statement. But if a straightforward mean-
i n g is taken from these paintings they w o u l d
have to say something like this: " T h e beauty that
was once distilled into these images is still here -
and is disregarded i n this city and o n its pave-
ments."
In one p a i n t i n g at least Bikash appears to
communicate a positive view of w o m a n i n her
traditional role, and perhaps also of the tradition
i n creating and sustaining the role. T h e p a i n t i n g
is called Plantation and is dated 1979. It shows a
strong H i n d u matriarch w i t h a tulsi plant,
sacred to V i s h n u . But the dominant view of the
situation of w o m e n i n India to be derived from
the paintings of Bikash is indeed a negative one
i n its reports of the oppression of w o m e n and its
perceptions of distortions of female being.
T h e same negative view completely d o m i -
nates the work of another painter k n o w n for her
treatment of the theme of women i n Indian
society. T h i s is N a l i n i M a l a n i of Bombay. She
paints impressionistic portrayals of wan child-
ren and of smashed, disintegrating w o m e n . H e r
paintings are "social statements based o n the
female body, mercilessly violated, stripped,
beaten, hammered" said an exhibition catalogue
of 1981. She has continued to develop this
30
theme. A typical example of her work, Sleeping
Woman, 1976, hangs i n the N a t i o n a l Gallery of
Modern Art i n D e l h i .
T h e feminist focus of these artists does not
present the whole truth about w o m e n i n India
but it cannot be denied that their work i l l u m i -
nates the h u m a n situation i n a changing society
still profoundly influenced by convention and
dominated by the ethos of a patriarchal tradi-
tion. These artists penetrate and explode the ste-
reotypes through w h i c h female being has been
represented. But what of the future? T h e case of
A m r i t a S h e r - G i l may again be instructive for the
future of a feminist concern i n the arts as well as
i n other fields. More truth about humanity (in
this I n d i a n art committed to humanity) may
emerge as more women become artists and as
womens' seeing achieves creative statement. T h e
number of w o m e n artists i n India is now small
as compared to the number of m e n , yet a 31
number of p r o m i s i n g figures are w o r k i n g i n
addition to those already mentioned i n this
essay. T w o of them deserve mention.
Veena Bhargava of Calcutta has been p a i n t i n g
since her days i n the Government College of Arts
and Crafts i n the early sixties and has been exhib-
i t i n g since 1969. A l t h o u g h not a member of any
32
of the major groups i n Calcutta she shares f u l l y
the orientation visible a m o n g artists of the C a l -
cutta Painters and the Society of Contemporary
Artists. P u b l i s h e d drawings of 1970 react to the
violence of that period i n C a l c u t t a . A series of
33
well-composed and painterly creations extend-
i n g from 1975 to the present focusses o n the
infra-world of the Calcutta streets: her Pavement
series. These paintings are not feminist works.
Indeed, though her p a i n t i n g is representational
to a degree, the figures of her paintings are sex-
less i n a c o n d i t i o n beyond gender and relation-
ship. She is aware of the feminist movement; i n
conversation she expresses some sympathy w i t h
it, particularly because of her o w n experience
w i t h difficulties h a m p e r i n g a w o m a n artist (the
interruption of her development as an artist by
marriage and c h i l d rearing, as well as the pres-
sures created by her role as wife and mother). But
the paintings of the Pavement series are not fem-
inist. T h e y m i g h t be described as " h u m a n i s t " :
they are " a b o u t " h u m a n degradation, about the
h u m a n c o n d i t i o n without distinction of gender
as it impinges o n her through the streets of the
city.
Meera Mukharjee is not a painter. She is prob-
ably the best k n o w n and most respected of the
sculptors presently w o r k i n g i n West Bengal. As
is true w i t h other artists whose work is described
i n this article, her work is figurative rather than
PAVEMENT 6, oil by Veena Bhargava, Calcutta
WORKSHOP IN THE SHADE, sculpture by eera
Mukharjee, Calcutta
abstract. A n d it has a traditional base both i n the
technique and also i n the imaginative content of
her work. In a large retrospective e x h i b i t i o n of
her work i n Calcutta i n 1981 one found, signifi-
cantly, a representation of Valmicki done i n 1976
( V a l m i c k i was India's adi-kavi or "first-poet,"
the traditional author of the epic Ramayana)
and a lighthearted depiction of an Indian m u s i -
cian, AsadAli on Veena, (1978). Beyond that her
work contains broad references to both tradi-
tional and modern life i n evocations of village
society {Workshop in the Shade, 1980, Kite Festi-
val, 1979) a n d of India's characteristic form of
modern transport (Bus, 1978 - definitely over-
crowded). There are other creative statements
THOUGHT, sculpture by Meera Mukharjee, Calcutta
representing both men and women. What is
remarkable about these works is their evocation
of confidence and strength, a strength seen and
represented i n graceful figures of women quite
as fully as it is seen and represented i n figures of
men.
T h e confidence and strength visible i n the
works of these two artists is a hopeful i n d i c a t i o n
for the future of women i n India. A serious a n d
committed art reflects the dilemmas and failures
of Indian society. But such an art seems likely
also to devise new and more positive accounts of
female being i n India.
 NOTES
22. A realism at odds with the idealising tendencies of Indian
artistic tradition appears with the Moguls and emerges again
1. "Pure abstraction may be possible with a European mind, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries. See Pranabranjan Ray,
it is not relevant to our way of life, which is so very different": " T o Carry the Roots in the Veins," Lalit Kala Contemporary,
Bengali artist Prokash Karmakar as reported by Ajit Kumar 24-25, (1977-78), pp. 8-15.
Datta, "Conversations with Artists," LalitKala Contemporary
23. Sandip Sarkar, " T h e Art Born of Crisis," Lalit Kala Contem-
1 7 ( n . d . ) p. 22.
porary, 29, April, 1980, pp. 22-25.
2. Several issues of the Indian 'Fine Arts Academy' publication
24. One of the two largest groups of Calcutta artists, founded in
LalitKala Contemporary show this, but see especially Krishna
1963.
Chaitanya, "Art and the Predicament of M a n , " Lalit Kala
25. T h e other of the two largest groups of Calcutta artists, estab-
Contemporary 24-25, September 1977 - April, 1978, pp. 16-21.
lished in 1961.
3. Indian artists K . K . Hebbar, B.R. Panesar, Shyamal Dutta-Ray
26. Pranabranjan Ray, in " T o Carry the Roots in the Veins," Lalit
and Veena Bhargava, for example.
Kala Contemporary, 24-5, (1977-78), p. 14.
4. Alienation is hard to "document" but Ram Kumar, Bhupen
27. Ibid.
Khakhar, Tyeb Mehta, Ganesh Pyne and others convey the
28. Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch (London, MacGibbon
experience i n different ways.
and Kee, 1971).
5. Chandrasekhar, P . T . Reddy, Doraiswamy, Krishen Khanna,
29. Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York, Norton,
Bijan Chowdhury, N i k h i l Biswas, Prokash Karmakar, Robin
1963).
Mondol and others.
30. Reported i n the Illustrated Weekly of India, September 15,
6. " I n rural areas the marriage of very young girls is still quite
1974 (note 14, above) p. 6.
prevalent": T h e Indian Council of Social Science Research,
31. The Artists Constituency Electoral Roll of 1975 (New Delhi,
Status of Women in India (A Synopsis of the Report of the
Lalit Kala Akademi) lists 103 women among a total of 869
National Committee on the Status of Women, 1971-4, New
artists.
Delhi, Allied Publishers Private Ltd., 1975), p. 29.
32. She has exhibited in Calcutta, Bombay and New Delhi, and
7. Status of Women in India, pp. 143-145 and Tables 3-7, has had her work included in an exhibition of contemporary
Appendix. Indian painting held in Yugoslavia, Poland and Belgium in
8. Status of Women in India, p. 94, and Table 19, Appendix, p. 1973-4.
155.
33. See Lalit Kala Contemporary, 24-25, (1977-78): " V i c t i m . " an
9. Status of Women in India, pp. 60-62.
ink drawing facing p. 18.
10. "Cultural insistence on early marriage, high fertility, idealiza-
tion of the roles of mother and housewife affect her physical
and mental health. According to our Survey, 48.53% respond-
ents state that women serve the family first and eat last. In poor
families this results in even greater malnutrition of women.
T h i s process of subservience starting at an early age, taboos
and restrictions which start with menstruation, and reluctance
to consult a doctor, particularly a male doctor, result i n a
general neglect of women's health." Status of Women in India,
p. 119.
11. Status of Women in India, p. 28.
12. Heinrich Zimmer, The Art of Indian Asia (Bollingen Series,
Princeton University Press, 1955), I, p 86.
13. Geeta Kapur, Contemporary Indian Artists, (New Delhi,
Vikas Publishing House, 1978), p. 141.
14. Nissim Ezekiel, " Y o u n g Painters of Promise," Illustrated
Weekly of India, V o l . X C V , 29, September 15, 1974.
15. See Hebbar's account of his own artistic development, K . K .
Hebbar, An Artist's Quest (New Delhi, Abhinav Publications,
1974).
16. See illustration.
17. S.l Clerk, "Hebbar's Concern with M a n , " LalitKala Contem-
porary, 24-25, 1977-78), pp. 40-41.
18. "So long as I breath, I hope" a painting showing a mother and
child in a village setting: P.R. Ramachandra Rao, Contem-
porary Indian Art (Hyderabad, published by the author, 1969),
Plate 83.
19. Numbers of her paintings were seen by the author in the
Dhoomimal Gallery in New Delhi i n 1978.
20. See K . G . Subramanyan, "Amrita Sher-Gil and the East-West
D i l e m m a , " Moving Focus (New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akadami,
1978), pp. 81-88.
21. See Jaya Appasamy, Abanindranath Tagore and the Art of His
Times (New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi, 1968).