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{{Short description|1932 painting by Amrita Sher-Gil}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Young Girls
| other_language_1 =
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| image = Young Girls.jpg
| image_upright =
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| caption =
| artist=[[Amrita Sher-Gil]]
| year = 1932
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| catalogue =
| medium=[[Oil on canvas]]
| movement =
| subject =
| height_metric = 164
| width_metric = 133
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| metric_unit = cm 
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| museum = [[National Gallery of Modern Art]] at [[Jaipur House]]
| city= New Delhi
| coordinates = 
| owner = Government of India
| accession =
| preceded_by = 
| followed_by = ''[[Professional Model]]''
| module =
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| italic title=yes
}}

'''''Young Girls''''' is an [[oil on canvas]] painting created by [[Amrita Sher-Gil]] in 1932 in Paris. It was awarded a gold medal at the [[Salon (Paris)|1933 Paris Salon]] and earned Sher-Gil an associate membership of that institution. It is a national art treasure under India's [[Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972)]], and is held at the [[National Gallery of Modern Art]] at [[Jaipur House]], New Delhi.

As a child, Sher-Gil was encouraged by her uncle, [[Ervin Baktay]], to carefully observe the reality around her and transfer it to her work. She was studying art at [[Beaux-Arts de Paris]], when she painted ''Young Girls''. Set in an affluent home, it depicts two women in close conversation modelled on her sister and a friend. The dark woman is positioned upright and the light skin woman is slouched, with her blonde hair partially covering a naked breast.

Several commentators have seen the painting as reflecting Sher-Gil's divided identity: Indian, European, colonial subject, and female.

==Background==
[[File:Amrita Sher-Gil with 3 paintings.jpg|thumb|Amrita Sher-Gil with three of her paintings in Paris]]

[[Amrita Sher-Gil]] (1913–1941) was born in Hungary to an Indian aristocrat and his artistic Hungarian wife.<ref name=Dalmia2013.1>Dalmia, pp.1-16</ref> After the [[First World War]] the family moved to Simla, India, where she spent her early teens.<ref name=Dalmia2013.2>Dalmia, pp. 17-25</ref><ref name="Singh1975">{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=N Iqbal |date=1975 |title=Amrita Sher-Gil |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23001838 |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=209–217 |jstor=23001838 |issn=0376-9771 |url-access=subscription |quote="Young Girls" (it now hangs in the National Art Gallery in Jaipur House in New Delhi). This picture was adjudged to be the "Picture of the Year". "Young Girls" led to her being elected as an Associate of the Grand Salon.}}</ref> There, she was influenced by her uncle, [[Ervin Baktay]], who introduced her to [[Nagybánya artists' colony|Nagybánya artistic methods]] and [[En plein air|plein air painting]].<ref name=Dalmia2013.2/> He encouraged her to carefully observe the reality around her and transfer it to her work, particularly using live models.<ref name=Dalmia2013.2/> In 1929, at the suggestion of Baktay, the family moved to Paris so that Sher-Gil could study art; she was then 16 years and was admitted at first to the [[Académie de la Grande Chaumière]] and later the [[Beaux-Arts de Paris]].<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> Between 1930 and 1932, in Paris, she created over 60 oil paintings, including ''Young Girls'', completed in 1932 at the age of 19.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3>Dalmia, pp. 26-44</ref> Two years later she would return to India where her style of painting would concentrate on painting Indians.<ref name=Dalmia2013.6>Dalmia, pp. 59-75</ref>

==Description==
''Young Girls'' is a [[portrait painting]] in [[oil painting|oil]] on [[canvas]], which measures {{cvt|164|x|133|cm}}.<ref name=Bhandari2021>{{cite web |last1=Bhandari |first1=Parul |title=On Amrita Sher-Gil's birth anniversary, a closer look at the women in her paintings |url=https://scroll.in/article/985478/on-amrita-sher-gils-birth-anniversary-a-closer-look-at-the-women-in-her-paintings |website=Scroll.in |access-date=18 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118073935/https://scroll.in/article/985478/on-amrita-sher-gils-birth-anniversary-a-closer-look-at-the-women-in-her-paintings |archive-date=18 November 2023 |date=30 January 2021}}</ref> Set in an affluent home, it depicts two similarly aged women sat on chairs in close proximity.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/><ref name=Priyanka2022/> The dark woman, modelled by Sher-Gil's sister [[Indira Sundaram|Indira]], is positioned upright and appears to have a smirk.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/><ref name=Dalmia2013.11>Dalmia, pp. 144-154</ref> Her attire is western and neat, and her hair combed back.<ref name=Priyanka2022>{{cite journal |first=Prachi |last=Priyanka|title=Amalgamation of East and West in the Art of Amrita Sher-Gil |journal=Journal of International Women's Studies |date=July 2022 |volume=24 |issue=3 |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2907&context=jiws |publisher=Bridgewater State University}}</ref><ref name=Khil2017>{{cite book |last1=Khilnani |first1=Sunil |title=Incarnations: A History of India in 50 Lives |date=2017 |publisher=Random House India |isbn=978-93-85990-95-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4XlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT292 |language=en |chapter=36. Amrita Sher-Gil: this is me}}</ref> In the foreground is a tabletop, and Indira has a plate of cherries on her lap.<ref name=Vogue2016/><ref name=Subramanyan>{{cite book |last1=Subramanyan|first1=K. G. |editor1-last=Dalmia |editor1-first=Yashodhara |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: Art & Life : a reader |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-809886-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7W4oAEACAAJ |language=en |chapter=5. Amrita Sher-Gil and the east-west dilemma|page=37}}</ref> The light skin woman, modelled by a friend, Denise Proutaux, is slouched, with her blonde hair partially covering a naked breast.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> Her right foot is shown bare.<ref name=Ananth2007>{{Cite book |last=Ananth |first=Deepak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vd7qAAAAMAAJ |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: An Indian Artist Family of the Twentieth Century |date=2007 |publisher=Schirmer/Mosel |isbn=978-3-8295-0270-2 |page=7 |language=en}}</ref> They face each other, appearing to be in conversation.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> There is a half-closed cupboard in the background.<ref name=Ananth2007/>

In 1942, Esmet Rahim (a painter and friend of Sher-Gil) described the painting as "an interior scene, depicting two young women sitting casually in a room, they are not doing anything interesting, they are not made to look pretty or intriguing, they are just two young girls, one fair and one dark".<ref name=Dalmia2013.11/>

==Reception==
''Young Girls'' earned a place at the 1933 [[Salon (Paris)|Paris Salon]], one year after Sher-Gil exhibited her first painting there.<ref name=Dalmia2013.4>Dalmia, p. 50</ref><ref name=Sundaram2010.319>Sundaram, pp. 319-327</ref> One of Sher-Gil's tutors had compared her with [[Gustave Courbet]], to which she responded to her cousin and later husband Victor, in a letter dated February 1933, that "I will be myself".<ref name=Dalmia2013.4/> Another former teacher viewed it as one of the best at the Salon, to which she told Victor that that "is not difficult".<ref name=Dalmia2013.4/> Sher-Gil was typically one of her own critics.<ref name=Connelly2021>{{cite news |last1=Connelly |first1=Charlie |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: The painter whose greatest critic was herself |url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/amrita-sher-gil-great-european-lives/ |access-date=11 November 2023 |work=The New European |date=2 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111082426/https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/amrita-sher-gil-great-european-lives/ |archive-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> That month also saw the [[vernissage]] of her ''[[Professional Model]]'', a portrait of a nude [[tuberculosis|consumptive]] that Sher-Gil felt was far superior to ''Young Girls''.<ref name=Dalmia2013.4/> ''Young Girls'' earned her the Salon's gold medal, making her the first Asian to be awarded it.<ref name=Singh1975/><ref name=Higgie2021>{{cite book |last1=Higgie |first1=Jennifer |title=The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: 500 Years of Women's Self-Portraits |date=2021 |publisher=Hachette |isbn=978-1-4746-1380-4 |page=190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VFfiDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT190 |language=en}}</ref> The institution made her an associate, allowing her to exhibit two paintings every year without the need for a jury.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> In May 1933, Sher-Gil wrote to Victor that "I have been selected as an extraordinary member of the Salon. However, I don't think very highly of them - they are very - haughty".<ref name=Dalmia2013.4/>

In her own account in a 1937 ''The Indian Ladies Magazine'', Sher-Gil clarifies that the painting earned her the position of associate at the Salon and says that it "was declared Picture of the Year".<ref name=Sundaram2010.319/> In 1933 there were several pictures of the year at Paris; [[The Sphere (newspaper)|''The Sphere'']] newspaper (1933) included ''Miss Hermione'' and ''Mrs Claude Chauvin'', both by [[Alfred Jonniaux]], ''Le Rat'' by M. Philippe Ledoux, ''Vocation Précoce'' by [[Jane Chaueur-Ozeel]], and ''La Convalescence'' by [[Madeleine Weill-Lestienne]].<ref name=Sphere1933>{{cite news |title=Art in Paris: some pictures of the year |work=The Sphere |date=13 May 1933 |page=252}}</ref> Abdul Khan Hamid, the notable art critic and brother of [[Zubeida Agha]], noted that that year ''Young Girls'' was "picture of the year".<ref name=Hamid1941>{{cite journal |last1=Hamid |first1=Agha Abdul |title=The art of Amrita Sher-Gil |journal=The Indian Listener |date=22 December 1941 |volume=VI |issue=1 |pages=11–12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuriDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |publisher=All India Radio (AIR) |location=New Delhi |language=en}}</ref> This was reiterated by biographer of Sher-Gil, [[N. Iqbal Singh]].<ref name=Singh1975/>

==Interpretation and legacy==
Several commentators have seen the painting as reflecting Sher-Gil's divided identity. [[Katalin Keserü]], who curated several Sher-Gil exhibitions, sees the painting as "east meets west".<ref name=Keserü>{{cite book |last1=Keserü |first1=Katalin |editor1-last=Dalmia |editor1-first=Yashodhara |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: Art & Life : a reader |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-809886-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7W4oAEACAAJ |language=en |chapter=8. Amrita Sher-Gil: the Indian painter and her French and Hungarian connections|pages=99–101}}</ref> In [[Yashodhara Dalmia]]'s biography of Sher-Gil, she sees the two women as two different aspects of Sher-Gil herself.<ref name=Naved2006>{{cite journal |last1=Naved |first1=Shad |title=Review of Still looking for Amrita: Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life |journal=Social Scientist |date=2006 |volume=34 |issue=5/6 |pages=132–135 |jstor=27644145 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27644145 |issn=0970-0293|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Dalmia asks "could the two girls represent facets of Amrita's own persona?"<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> She notes in general that Sher-Gil's paintings in Paris followed a search for her European-Indian identity, in addition to following her Paris school academic teachings.<ref name=Zahra2022>{{cite web |last1=Zahra |first1=Orin |title=Amrita Sher-Gil, Self-Portrait as a Tahitian |url=https://smarthistory.org/amrita-sher-gil-self-portrait-tahitian/ |publisher=The Centre for Public Art History |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111070752/https://smarthistory.org/amrita-sher-gil-self-portrait-tahitian/ |archive-date=11 November 2023 |date=8 September 2022}}</ref> In ''Young Girls'', Dalmia interprets "the strict upright pose of the dark woman" as equally "matched by the abandon of the fair-haired woman", saying that "the dark, oriental woman [is] in a position of equality with the white woman, sharing her privileges with elan."<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> Sher-Gil's later painting ''[[Two Girls (painting)|Two Girls]]'' would expand on this theme, and her portraits of women close to each other would also become a recurring theme.<ref name=Dalmia2013.3/> Dalmia would quote in her book that Rahim's response was that "the picture as a whole is captivating. Nothing betrays the fact that the picture is the work of a girl of 19. It is powerful, almost masculine in its vigour."<ref name=Dalmia2013.11/>

Art historian, Saloni Mathur, agrees with [[Vivan Sundaram]] that the painting is "complex", with the portrayal of "a brown and a white woman together in their nudity ambiguously, as possible lovers, or, in an alternative reading, as a form of self-portraiture that projected her own racially divided self".<ref name=Mathur2011>{{cite journal |last1=Mathur |first1=Saloni |title=A Retake of Sher-Gil's Self-Portrait as Tahitian |journal=Critical Inquiry |date=March 2011 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=515–544 |doi=10.1086/659356 |jstor=10.1086/659356 |s2cid=161416197 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/659356|url-access=subscription }}</ref> ''[[Vogue India]]'''s review of [[Sunil Khilnani]]'s ''[[Incarnations: A History of India in 50 Lives]]'' (2017) describes the painting as having a "mysterious tension".<ref name=Vogue2016>{{cite journal |title=Celebrated painter Amrita Sher-Gil: "Europe belongs to Picasso, Matisse, Braque and many others. India belongs only to me" |journal=Vogue India |date=24 March 2016 |url=https://www.vogue.in/content/celebrated-painter-amrita-sher-gil-europe-belongs-to-picasso-matisse-braque-and-many-others-india-belongs-only-to-me |access-date=11 November 2023 |language=en-IN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111110034/https://www.vogue.in/content/celebrated-painter-amrita-sher-gil-europe-belongs-to-picasso-matisse-braque-and-many-others-india-belongs-only-to-me|archive-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> [[Charlie Connelly]] in ''[[The New European]]'' (2021) called the painting a work of "outstanding insight and technique".<ref name=Connelly2021/> Art historian [[Susie Hodge]], wrote in her book ''Artistic Circles'' (2021), that ''Young Girls'' reflects Sher-Gil's sexuality and the different aspects of her personality.<ref name=Hodge2021>{{cite book |last1=Hodge |first1=Susie |title=Artistic Circles: The Inspiring Connections Between the World's Greatest Artists |date=2021 |publisher=Frances Lincoln |isbn=978-0-7112-5586-9 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9hCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |language=en}}</ref> A review in the ''[[Journal of International Women's Studies]]'' (2022) points to the significance of the contrasting postures of the girls; "while the French woman is casually careless and relaxed, Indira is sitting cross-legged, neat, and proper in her manner. It is often implied that the two postures and identities reflect on the artist’s own divided self, and, possibly, colonial relationships, even sexual ambiguity".<ref name=Priyanka2022/> After Sher-Gil's death, Rahim pointed out that Sher-Gil herself did not think much of the painting.<ref name=Rahim>{{cite book |last1=Rahim|first1=Esther|editor1-last=Dalmia |editor1-first=Yashodhara |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: Art & Life : a reader |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-809886-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7W4oAEACAAJ |language=en |chapter=4. Amrita Sher-Gil: a genuine artist - striving for excellence|page=32}}</ref>

===Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972)===
Under India's [[Antiquities and Art Treasures Act (1972)]], formed in accordance with the [[UNESCO 1970 Convention]] to regulate the internal and external dealing in [[antiquities]] in India, the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] in 1976 and 1979, named Sher-Gil's works as Indian treasure that if sold in India, cannot leave the country.<ref name=Unesco1984>{{cite book |title=The Protection of Movable Cultural Property: Compendium of Legislative Texts |date=1984 |publisher=Unesco |isbn=978-92-3-101638-7 |page=167 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpZJx2GB9HYC&pg=PA167 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Bell2022>{{cite book |last1=Bell |first1=Jo |last2=Hershman |first2=Tania |last3=Holland |first3=Ailsa |title=On This Day She: Putting Women Back Into History One Day at a Time |date=2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1-5381-6457-0 |page=33 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkR3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 |language=en |chapter=30 January : Amrita Sher-Gil}}</ref> ''Young Girls'' is housed at the [[National Gallery of Modern Art]] at [[Jaipur House]], New Delhi, and must stay in India.<ref name=Singh1975/>

==See also==
*[[List of paintings by Amrita Sher-Gil]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Vivan |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings |date=2010 |publisher=Tulika Books |location=New Delhi |volume=1|pages=1–417|isbn=978-81-89487-59-1}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sundaram |first1=Vivan |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters and Writings |date=2010 |publisher=Tulika Books |location=New Delhi |volume=2|pages=418–821|isbn=978-81-89487-59-1}}
*{{Cite book |last=Dalmia|first=Yashodhara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mj3mlgEACAAJ |title=Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life |date=2013 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Gurugram |isbn=978-0-14-342026-2 |language=en}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |title=Amrita Sher-Gil |url=http://www.ngmaindia.gov.in/virtual-tour-of-amrita-sher-gil.asp |website=ngmaindia.gov.in |access-date=11 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111064707/http://www.ngmaindia.gov.in/virtual-tour-of-amrita-sher-gil.asp|archive-date=11 November 2023}}

{{Amrita Sher-Gil}}

[[Category:Paintings of women]]
[[Category:1932 paintings]]
[[Category:Paintings by Amrita Sher-Gil]]
[[Category:Oil paintings on canvas]]
[[Category:Paintings in India]]
[[Category:Paintings of fruit]]

Young Girls (painting) - Revision history

Geri3389994518: created basic entry initial version...