67
Atlantis Vol. 8 No. 1
Fall/Automne 1982
67-77
A Feminist Focus
in Indian Painting
Frank Thompson
University of Waterloo
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 sociallyconscious 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 international 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
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
documented poverty, alienation, a n d social
violence, particularly i n urban India.
1
2
3
4
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 example, 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-Independence 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
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 situation 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
parts of the country was higher than that of
m e n , that female literacy lags behind that of
m e n , a n d that the representation of women i n
the labour force has actually markedly declined
i n recent years. T h e Committee considered the
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
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
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."
6
7
8
9
10
11
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 traditional 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 reference 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
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 .
1 2
13
Artists of the present day w h o focus i n a realistic 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
proportions. They are splendid images. T h e difficulty w i t h them when considering the historical 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 rein14
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 subserving 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
a master of the evocative and sensuous line
w h i c h is a hallmark of Indian art from the earliest 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 abundance, 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
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 traditional 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.
15
16
17
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 sensuous. 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 evocations of rural India, Village Women being the
title of one of them. These paintings are masterful 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 aesthetic 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 portrayal 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
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 agreeable c o m p o s i t i o n s . Mrs. Prabha's work does
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.
18
19
Where then is a feminist focus i n Indian painting? 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
the romantic image of w o m a n as well as the
self-conscious traditionalism of the contemporary Bengal School of Indian art. W h i l e many of
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 development of her o w n art as she died i n 1941.
20
21
UNTITLED
DRAWING by Krishna Hebbar
A m r i t a S h e r - G i l had a direct influence o n
some painters of the post-Independence era,
however, w i t h K r i s h n a Hebbar being conspicuous 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 orientat i o n , it c o u l d be said that the quality of her
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.
22
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,
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)
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 desolation of Calcutta.
watercolour by
23
A n d it is here especially, among the painters of
Calcutta, that one finds a feminist focus: a painti 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 lege of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta. Isha M u h a m m e d
is a skilled portraitist. But occasionally he produces 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
and daughter seated together i n what appeared
to be a conveyance. T h e p a i n t i n g was provisiona 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 symbolized by a large padlock.
24
T h e feminist focus of Calcutta p a i n t i n g emerges more strongly i n the works of Bikash Bhattacharjee. 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
CAPTIVITY, partially complete painting by Isha
Muhammed, April 1981, Calcutta
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
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 paintings, 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 unders t a n d i n g ^ exposed the psyche of the urban intelligentsia 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
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
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 .
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 genuinely traditional society need not i m p l y isolat i o n , but rather the company of other women.
Isolation is experienced when traditional lifestyles 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, particularly 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.
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 conspicuous 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 carnality, a grasping nature t h i n l y veiled by costumes 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 .
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 confident. 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 .
25
26
2 7
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 isolation 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
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 Calcuttan 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 meani 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 pavements."
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 children 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
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 .
30
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 tradition. These artists penetrate and explode the stereotypes 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
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.
31
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 exhibi t i n g since 1969. A l t h o u g h not a member of any
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
well-composed and painterly creations extendi 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 sexless i n a c o n d i t i o n beyond gender and relationship. 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 pressures created by her role as wife and mother). But
the paintings of the Pavement series are not feminist. 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.
32
33
Meera Mukharjee is not a painter. She is probably 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, significantly, 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 traditional and modern life i n evocations of village
society {Workshop in the Shade, 1980, Kite Festival, 1979) a n d of India's characteristic form of
modern transport (Bus, 1978 - definitely overcrowded). 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
1.
"Pure abstraction may be possible with a European mind, but
it is not relevant to our way of life, which is so very different":
Bengali artist Prokash Karmakar as reported by Ajit Kumar
Datta, "Conversations with Artists," LalitKala Contemporary
1 7 ( n . d . ) „ p. 22.
2.
Several issues of the Indian 'Fine Arts Academy' publication
LalitKala Contemporary show this, but see especially Krishna
Chaitanya, "Art and the Predicament of M a n , " Lalit Kala
Contemporary 24-25, September 1977 - April, 1978, pp. 16-21.
3.
Indian artists K . K . Hebbar, B.R. Panesar, Shyamal Dutta-Ray
and Veena Bhargava, for example.
Alienation is hard to "document" but Ram Kumar, Bhupen
Khakhar, Tyeb Mehta, Ganesh Pyne and others convey the
experience i n different ways.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Chandrasekhar, P . T . Reddy, Doraiswamy, Krishen Khanna,
Bijan Chowdhury, N i k h i l Biswas, Prokash Karmakar, Robin
Mondol and others.
" I n rural areas the marriage of very young girls is still quite
prevalent": T h e Indian Council of Social Science Research,
Status of Women in India (A Synopsis of the Report of the
National Committee on the Status of Women, 1971-4, New
Delhi, Allied Publishers Private Ltd., 1975), p. 29.
Status of Women in India, pp. 143-145 and Tables 3-7,
Appendix.
Status of Women in India, p. 94, and Table 19, Appendix, p.
155.
Status of Women in India, pp. 60-62.
"Cultural insistence on early marriage, high fertility, idealization of the roles of mother and housewife affect her physical
and mental health. According to our Survey, 48.53% respondents 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.
Status of Women in India, p. 28.
Heinrich Zimmer, The Art of Indian Asia (Bollingen Series,
Princeton University Press, 1955), I, p 86.
Geeta Kapur, Contemporary Indian Artists, (New Delhi,
Vikas Publishing House, 1978), p. 141.
Nissim Ezekiel, " Y o u n g Painters of Promise," Illustrated
Weekly of India, V o l . X C V , 29, September 15, 1974.
See Hebbar's account of his own artistic development, K . K .
Hebbar, An Artist's Quest (New Delhi, Abhinav Publications,
1974).
See illustration.
S.l Clerk, "Hebbar's Concern with M a n , " LalitKala Contemporary, 24-25, 1977-78), pp. 40-41.
"So long as I breath, I hope" a painting showing a mother and
child in a village setting: P.R. Ramachandra Rao, Contemporary Indian Art (Hyderabad, published by the author, 1969),
Plate 83.
Numbers of her paintings were seen by the author in the
Dhoomimal Gallery in New Delhi i n 1978.
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.
See Jaya Appasamy, Abanindranath Tagore and the Art of His
Times (New Delhi, Lalit Kala Akademi, 1968).
22.
A realism at odds with the idealising tendencies of Indian
artistic tradition appears with the Moguls and emerges again
in the 19th and early 20th centuries. See Pranabranjan Ray,
" T o Carry the Roots in the Veins," Lalit Kala Contemporary,
24-25, (1977-78), pp. 8-15.
23.
Sandip Sarkar, " T h e Art Born of Crisis," Lalit Kala Contemporary, 29, April, 1980, pp. 22-25.
One of the two largest groups of Calcutta artists, founded in
1963.
T h e other of the two largest groups of Calcutta artists, established in 1961.
Pranabranjan Ray, in " T o Carry the Roots in the Veins," Lalit
Kala Contemporary, 24-5, (1977-78), p. 14.
Ibid.
Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch (London, MacGibbon
and Kee, 1971).
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York, Norton,
1963).
Reported i n the Illustrated Weekly of India, September 15,
1974 (note 14, above) p. 6.
The Artists Constituency Electoral Roll of 1975 (New Delhi,
Lalit Kala Akademi) lists 103 women among a total of 869
artists.
She has exhibited in Calcutta, Bombay and New Delhi, and
has had her work included in an exhibition of contemporary
Indian painting held in Yugoslavia, Poland and Belgium in
1973-4.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
See Lalit Kala Contemporary, 24-25, (1977-78): " V i c t i m . " an
ink drawing facing p. 18.