Various Properties
Y.G. Srimati, (Indian 1926-2007),
Ganesha, 1992;
woodblock print on paper, A/P,...

Various Properties

Y.G. Srimati, (Indian 1926-2007),

Ganesha, 1992;

woodblock print on paper, A/P, title below in pencil, signed lower right 'Srimati '92

38.1 x 28cm. 

Note: Y.G. Srimati (1926 - 2007) was a musician, dancer and painter born in Mysore. From a very young age, she was trained in Indian classical music and dance and painting. Y.G. Srimati became a highly accomplished vocalist and performer of Carnatic museum and became a participant of the Indian Independance Movement from Chennai. She was deeply influenced by Mahatma Ghandi and at rallies addressed by him she would perform devotional songs in various Indian languages. She dedicated her art work to nationalist themes, often painting figures from Hindi mythology, her style being influenced by Nandalal Bose of the Bengal School of Art  and the frescoes of the Ellora and Ajanta Caves. Her talent was recognized in 1952 during her first solo exhibition at the Government Museum, Madras (now Chennai).

The first retrospective exhibition of her work An Artist of Her Time : Y.G. Srimati and the Indian Style opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2016. Srimati was a very reserved and private artist and she did not sell many of her artworks. Following her death in 2007, several of her works were acquired by Dr John Guy for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He stated about her work, "Srimati's paintings displayed a consistent commitment to her vision of an Indian style. She explored themes from religious epic literature and scenes from rural culture, asserting traditional subject matter as part of conscious expression of nationalist sentiments; her choice was personal and idiosychratic," and "through her highly controlled and softly moderated  use of watercolour washes, Srimati built on the poetic and lyrical styles developed a generation earlier in India by Abandrinath Tagore and Nandalal Bose,"