Anjolie ela menon biography

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She is also well known for her murals and has represented India at the Algiers Biennale and in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Observers of Menon have likened her works to that of Modigliani, Van Gogh, M. F. Husain, and Amrita Sher-Gil.

Since setting off as a young artist committed to deliberate, almost austere figures, Menon has evolved greatly and perfected a style signature to her enigmatic story.

She also had a retrospective show organized by the Times of India at the Jehangir Art Gallery in 1998 and another retrospective titled ‘Four Decades’ in Mumbai and Bangalore. She utilized the techniques of Christian art, including the frontal perspective, the averted head, the elongated bodies, and the female nude as a significant subject. Her life and work have been featured in significant publications and films for Doordarshan and CNN.

Anjolie Ela Menon’s paintings are in the collection of significant museums and private and corporate collections across the globe.

Menon’s early paintings, mainly portraits, imply inspiration from the likes of Modigliani, Van Gogh, Amrita Sher-Gil, and M. F. Husain. She used her time in Paris to travel widely around Europe, studying Romanesque and Byzantine art before returning home. A scholarship enabled her to study at the Atelier Fresque, École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, from 1959-61.

Menon counts Amrita Sher-Gil and M.

F. Husain as early influences. In 2000, she received the Padma Shri from the Government of India. She received a lifetime achievement award from the Government of Delhi in 2013 and a National Kalidas Samman for Visual Arts from the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2018.

Her recent exhibitions include ‘Menongitis-Three Generations of Art at Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, in 2008, and ‘Gods and Others’ by Apparao Galleries at Admit One Gallery, New York, in 2000.

Menon conjures up pictures that are necessarily feminine, deeply sentimental, and instantly attractive. She was inspired by the works of masters like Modigliani and Indian artists such as Amrita Shergil and M.F. Hussain during this time. As her style continued to evolve, Menon developed the distinctive features of early Christian art - namely the frontal perspective, the averted head, and the slight body elongation - but took the female nude as a frequent subject.

Yet, unlike the genre’s masters such as Marc Chagall, or the surrealists, her fantasies remain fettered, rarely taking flight.

She has exhibited widely in India and abroad. Her early works showed a deft hand at applying muted, translucent colors, layering thin glazes of oil paint onto hardboard before burnishing with a soft dry brush. Often described as magical, enigmatic, and mysterious, Anjolie Ela Menon paintings evoke an element of empathy in the viewer.

The result is a dynamic relationship of eroticism and melancholy. As her style continued to evolve, Menon adopted the distinctive compositional features of early Christian art – namely frontal perspective, the averted head, and slight elongation of the body – while also frequently painting female nudes.

Anjolie Ela Menon

Biography:

Born in 1940 in Burnpur (West Bengal), Anjolie Ela Menon is a leading contemporary artist who hailed from a Bengali and American parentage.