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Sunil Khilnani tells the story of the painter Amrita Sher-Gil – 20th century India’s first art star – who died under shrouded circumstances in 1941 at the age of just 28.

Sher-Gil left a vortex of stories behind her: about her narcissism and her love affairs. But even more compelling than the stories are the canvasses she left behind.

Drawing from European artists like Cezanne, Gauguin, and Brancusi, and from Indian ones – the makers of the Buddhist wall paintings in the caves of Ajanta, and the minature painters of the Pahari tradition – Amrita Sher-Gil managed to do something radical within Indian culture: to declare her own vision – a woman’s vision – vital in the history of art.

She endowed successive generations of Indians with something scarce in the culture: an example of an autonomous, creative female.

Featuring interviews with artists Bharti Kher and Vivan Sundaram.

Readings by Sheenu Das.

Producer: Martin Williams
Executive Producer: Martin Smith
Original music composed by Talvin Singh