FEMINIST VISION AND IMAGINATIVE LANGUAGE IN AMRITA SHER-GIL'S ARTWORK: BLENDING EAST–WEST INFLUENCES TO CHALLENGE GENDER NORMS IN COLONIAL INDIA

Amrita Sher-Gil (1913–1941), a Hungarian-Indian modernist painter, stands as one of the most significant avant-garde female artists of the twentieth century. Working during the twilight of colonial rule and the nascent period of Indian independence, Sher-Gil developed a distinctive artistic vision that synthesized European modernist techniques with traditional Indian aesthetics while simultaneously interrogating and challenging patriarchal representations of women. This research paper examines how Sher-Gil's feminist consciousness manifested through her imaginative visual language, exploring how her hybrid East-West artistic approach functioned as a form of resistance against both colonial and patriarchal gender norms. Through detailed analysis of her self-portraits, domestic scenes, and depictions of rural women, the paper demonstrates that Sher-Gil deployed color, form, and the motif of the female gaze as powerful tools to reclaim female subjectivity,articulate female desire, and resist the objectification inherent in both the Western male gaze and traditional Indian patriarchal structures. By positioning women as conscious, introspective subjects rather than passive objects, Sher-Gil pioneered a distinctly Indian modernist feminism that would profoundly influence subsequent generations of Indian artists.