She was considered one of the most beautiful women of her time. She led a lavish and lewd life without ever questioning her decisions and turning around. She was already dead at the age of 28, but she left behind works that are still admired by millions of people, making her the highest paid Indian painter in history.

Today, Amrita Sher-Gil is considered the best Indian painter and one of the most important artists in the world from the beginning of the 20th century. She is sometimes called "Indian Frida Kahlo" whose paintings stand side by side with the greatest geniuses of the Bengal Renaissance.

Yet even more than her paintings, Amrita Sher-Gill's life was very exciting and equally tragic.

She was born in Budapest, in the family of an Indian father and a Jewish mother from Hungary. From an early age she was surrounded by wealth because her father belonged to the ruling, aristocratic caste in India, and her mother was a famous opera singer. The family moved to India and the girl grew up greatly influenced by the culture of that country, and this legacy will accompany her for the rest of her life.

Before the age of eight, Amrita played piano and violin, and from the age of nine she also held concerts together with her younger sister. Although she has been painting since the age of four, she received tutors from the age of eight. For a time she also attended an art school in Florence, so her later work showed the influence of Italian masters.

When she was 16, Amrita went to Paris with her mother to continue her education. The city of light was all Amrita ever wanted from life. She visited art studios, hung out with painters and soon discovered a whole world of luxury and vice that had been foreign to her before. Many paintings created from this time depict her lovers whom she often changed in search of love.

Back to the roots:

After turbulent years spent in Paris, Amrita set out to rethink her life. Records say that she was tormented by a great longing for India and that she said that only there can she really create.

- I can only paint in India. Europe belongs to Picasso, Masis, Marriage… India belongs only to me - she wrote in one letter.

Although her family was strongly attached to the British aristocracy, wealth and power, Amrita was more interested in the poor, the sick and the desperate. She was very close to Gandhi's understandings and his philosophy. And so, until 1937, she completely turned to painting the lives of Indians, as she saw them.

In 1938, Amrita Sher-Gill married her cousin from Hungary, Dr. Viktor Egan, and settled in India with him.

However, this was not the end of her many love affairs. It is recorded that Amrita had as many lovers as a mistress, and that she depicted them all in her paintings. Many today believe that in the painting "Two Women" she portrayed herself with her mistress Marie Louise.

Sudden death which is still a mystery today;

In 1941, just days before the opening of her first major solo exhibition, Amrita Sher-Gil became seriously ill and fell into a coma. She died around midnight on December 6, 1941, leaving behind a huge number of works even though she was only 28 years old.

The cause of death was never unraveled. A lewd life, but also a poorly performed abortion are often mentioned as reasons. Amrita's mother blamed her husband, Dr. Viktor, for the death of her daughter, who, according to her mother, killed her out of jealousy.

However, these allegations have never been investigated. Namely, the day after Amrita's death, England declared war on Hungary and Viktor was sent to prison as an enemy of the state.

Amrita Sher-Gil was cremated on December 7, 1941. Her ashes rest forever in her beloved India where her works have been declared a national treasure.