One of India’s
most famous artists of today. Born in 1940, after academics
from Lovedale and Delhi University, she initially went to J J
School of Art, Bombay that she subsequently rejected. In 1960,
Menon went to Paris to study art at the Atelier Fresque of
Ecole des Beaux Arts.
Her early days were heavily
influenced - first by the likes of M F Husain and Mohan
Samant and then by the works of Amrita Shergil and Modigliani.
However, it was Paris where Anjolie Ela Menon really opened
up. After absorbing various art styles she developed a style
of her own which at that time, did show strong European
influences including Russian. In the years that followed,
Menon stayed in various places in India, painting extensively
and exhibiting. Her style conformed to no particular genre or
school and was highly individual which earned her the title
“maverick” once.
Working mainly with oils and
mixed media and preferring to paint directly rather than draw,
her paintings are a reflection of the phases of her life and
the world around her. The paintings show a deep ethos,
sensitive to human sensibility, nature and beauty. They have
differently been classified as autobiographical, subjective,
interpretative and impressions.In recent years, Menon has also
been experimenting with shapes and forms in Murano glass
sculptures, which have a touch of the ethereal and divine.
Having painted, exhibited and
won laurels all over the world and being honoured with the
Padmashree, Anjolie Ela Menon continues to be one of Indian
arts’ greatest ambassadors. |