''Sleep'', also called ''Indu's Nude'' or ''Nude of Indira'', is an

oil on canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

painting by

Amrita Sher-Gil Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian–Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ...

, completed in 1933. It depicts a view from above of Sher-Gil's younger sister Indira, naked and lying on a white sheet at a diagonal, and with one raised arm. Just beneath her is a shawl depicting a dragon, whose body appears to flow in parallel with the flow of her hair and body curves. Sher-Gil started the painting in 1932 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

while also painting a view from the top of

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

. Later, it was nearly sold to Nawab Salar Jung and was subsequently displayed at her solo exhibition at

Faletti's Hotel Faletti's Hotel is a historical hotel in Lahore, Pakistan, which was opened in 1880 during the British Raj by an Italian, Giovanni Faletti. It was closed in the late 1990s for privatisation and re-opened in June 2013 after undergoing a major ref ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, in 1937. In 1940, the painting was one of six of her works displayed at the Indian Academy of Fine Arts' Amritsar Exhibition. In 2007, it was shown at the Tate Gallery in London. Although Sher-Gil and National Congressman

Diwan Chaman Lall Diwan Chaman Lall (30 October 1892 – 12 November 1973) was an Indian politician and diplomat who served as a Member of the Rajya Sabha. Early life Chaman Lall was born on 30 October 1892 to Dewan Bahadur Daulat Rai. He received an honors de ...

tried to sell the painting, it remained unsold, and is housed in the

National Gallery of Modern Art The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is the premier art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent b ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Origin and composition

''Sleep'' is an oil on canvas painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, depicting her younger sister Indira.Sundaram, pp. 79-81 She started the painting in 1932 in Paris. In June 1932, she wrote to her mother that she was a workaholic painting a view from the top of Notre-Dame de Paris during the day and ''Sleep'' all night. She wrote:

These days I am painting a view from the top of the Notre Dame... From 6 O'clock in the evening until there is light I am painting a nude of Indu. You see, I work like a madman, no time even to think.

The painting is a view of Indira from above. She is lying naked and at a diagonal, on a white sheet, with her left arm raised. Just beneath her is a shawl depicting a dragon that appears to copy the flow of her hair and body curves.

Exhibitions and sales

In December 1936, the painting was displayed at the exhibition hall in the

Public Gardens, Hyderabad Public Gardens also known as Bagh-e-Aam is a historic park located in the heart of the city of Hyderabad, India. It was built in 1846 by the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad and is the oldest park in Hyderabad. History Public Gardens also known as ''B ...

.Sundaram, pp. 266-270 There, the wealthy art collector, Nawab Salar Jung, requested that it be delivered to him, along with '' Three Girls'' (1935).Sundaram, pp. 271-285 Hoping that he would purchase it, Sher-Gil also sent him the ''Villagers'' and extended her visit. In January 1937, she wrote to Indira that "I may have sold your nude and the group of young girls to the Nawab Salar Jung, after the Nizam the richest man in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, if I were a sycophant". However, after keeping them for several days, the Nawab returned the paintings, commenting that he had "no use for these

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

pictures". The painting was number 17 of 33 of Sher-Gil's works displayed at her solo exhibition at Faletti's Hotel in Lahore, British India, held from 21 to 27 November 1937.Sundaram, pp. 422-424 There, it was priced at ₹1,000 but did not sell. Writing from Budapest on 8 October 1938, Sher-Gil told her parents that she had left the painting she called "''Indu's Nude''" with the Indian National Congressman and her friend

"to see if he could palm it off on someone but he wasn't successful".Sundaram, pp. 522-523 In 1940, the painting was one of six of her works displayed at the Indian Academy of Fine Arts' Amritsar Exhibition, held from 31 October to 10 November, to raise money for the War Fund.Sundaram, pp. 684-685 Housed at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, ''Sleep'' was part of the 2007 exhibition held at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

in London.

Response

According to scholar Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, the painting calls to mind

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

's '' Olympia''. Former director of the

Ernst Museum The Ernst Museum ( Hungarian : ''Ernst Múzeum'') is an art museum located in Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European ...

Katalin Keserü Katalin Keserü (born 4 October 1946 in Pécs, Hungary) is a Hungarian award-winning artist and professor emeritus (since 2013) in the Department of Art History at Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University. From 2000 to 2006, she ...

, who curated several Sher-Gil exhibitions, notes that unlike most of her other nudes, ''Sleep'' and '' Reclining Nude'' (1933) appear as if possibly painted by a man. She describes ''Sleep'' as a "perfect composition".

Notes

References

Bibliography