THE NUDE IN THE ARTWORKS OF RAJA RAVI VERMA, AMRITA SHERGILL, JAMINI ROY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

The representation of the nude figure has held a central place in the history of global art, symbolizing various concepts—beauty, fertility, spirituality, vulnerability, and power. The depiction of the nude in Indian art is a complex cultural narrative shaped by aesthetic choices, socio-political commentary, and personal expression In Indian art, the nude had traditionally been associated with divine forms (such as yakshis and apsaras) or tantric symbolism, but colonial rule, Victorian morality, and Western academic art influenced how nudity was visualized, critiqued, and celebrated in modern India. This comparative study examines how each artist conceptualized and represented the nude, revealing shifting perspectives on body, identity, and art in modern India. Raja Ravi Varma, Amrita Sher-Gil, and Jamini Roy—three giants of Indian modernism—approached the nude in radically different ways. This paper explores how three pioneering artists—Raja Ravi Varma, Jamini Roy, and Amrita Sher-Gil—engaged with the nude, revealing the socio-political, aesthetic, and ideological shifts in Indian modern art. While Varma used the nude within a mythological framework influenced by European realism, Roy largely excluded it in favor of stylized indigenous forms, and Sher-Gil redefined it through a modernist, feminist lens.