Amrita Sher-Gil's paintings at Lahore (1937)



The Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil, exhibited 33 of her paintings at her One-man Show in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. Four paintings were sold in total; The Little Girl in Blue (1934), The Story (1937), Pink Self-portrait, and The Vina Player (1937).

At the opening, Punjab's finance minister, Manohar Lal, praised the self-portrait she did not like. Charles Fabri commended the exhibition in general, though criticised the show for being too ornate. The attendance was good. With eight annas per entry, the exhibition made around ₹25 a day from entrance fees alone.

Opening
The Hungarian-born Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil exhibited 33 of her paintings, dubbed her "One-man Show", in the ballroom at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937. Having checked into Faletti's a week before the opening, she arranged invitations, oversaw plans for lighting, and unpacked her artwork.

The exhibition was opened by Punjab's finance minister, Manohar Lal. Over 150 people attended on that day. Dressed in a gold-bordered sari, twice wrapped covering a brocade blouse, and wearing large Tibetan jewellery, Sher-Gil greeted guests at the entrance. Attendees included Dalip Singh Majithia, Badruddin Tyabji, Diwan Chaman Lall, Justice Bakshi Tek Chand, Lahore Museum's curator K. N. Sitaram, Kanwar Dalip Singh of Kapurthala, and Bhim Sen Sachar. Students of Punjab University attended. The Civil and Military Gazette's art critic Fabri was also present. It was there that Sher-Gil and Fabri first met. The governor, Sir Herbert William Emerson, and Lady Emerson, visited the exhibition for a private viewing on 24 November.

Exhibits
Paintings exhibited included Young Man with Apples (1932), Sleep (1933), A Professional Model (1933), The Little Girl in Blue (1934), Three Girls (1935), The Bride's Toilet (1937), and The Story Teller (1937). The previous year, Sleep and Group of Young Girls had been displayed at the exhibition hall in the Public Gardens, Hyderabad. Hoping that the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung would purchase them, Sher-Gil was disappointed when after keeping them for several days the Nawab returned them, commenting that he had "no use for these Cubist pictures". Re-exhibited at the November 1937 Lahore show, they did not sell and remained in Sher-Gil's possession.

During her time at Lahore, Sher-Gil painted two commissioned paintings, which she did not approve of and left them unsigned. Two other paintings she completed there were The Red Brick House and a portrait of Helen Chaman Lal.

Response
Four paintings were sold in total. Tyabji later recalled that "the exhibition was well attended", and that Sher-Gil appreciated that he bought The Story Teller. With the help of Chamanlall, The Little Girl in Blue was sold to Fabri. The Vina Player, Sher-Gil's mother's favourite, was initially not for sale, but then acquired by the Lahore Museum, through the encouragement of Fabri and Sita Ram. The other painting sold was titled Pink Self-portrait.

At the opening, Manohar Lal praised the self-portrait she did not like. Fabri called the show a "revelation", and "a feast for the eyes". He called her work "essentially modern without being fantastic", while criticising it for being "decorative to the extreme". With eight annas per entry, the exhibition made around ₹25 a day from entrance fees alone. On 24 November 1937, reviews of the exhibition in the Civil and Military Gazette coincided with reviews of the block-buster film Jeevan Prabhat. One newspaper reported of the artwork that "each one seemed to excell the other in art and presentation".

List of paintings exhibited
This is a list of the 33 paintings exhibited at Lahore in 1937 as catalogued and titled in the original programme: