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

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.^[1][2] Having checked into Faletti's a week before the opening, she arranged invitations, oversaw plans for lighting, and unpacked her artwork.^[3]

The exhibition was opened by Punjab's finance minister, Manohar Lal.^[1] Over 150 people attended on that day.^[4] Dressed in a gold-bordered sari, twice wrapped covering a brocade blouse, and wearing large Tibetan jewellery, Sher-Gil greeted guests at the entrance.^[3] 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.^[1][3][5] Students of Punjab University attended.^[6] The Civil and Military Gazette's art critic Fabri was also present.^[7] It was there that Sher-Gil and Fabri first met.^[8] The governor, Sir Herbert William Emerson, and Lady Emerson, visited the exhibition for a private viewing on 24 November.^[9][10]

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).^[1] The previous year, Sleep and Group of Young Girls had been displayed at the exhibition hall in the Public Gardens, Hyderabad.^[11] 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".^[12] Re-exhibited at the November 1937 Lahore show, they did not sell and remained in Sher-Gil's possession.^[1]

The self-portrait was bought by a person who subsequently commissioned Sher-Gil to do two portraits of Mrs Hiralal.^[13] Also, at Lahore, Sher-Gil painted two commissioned paintings, which she did not approve of and left them unsigned.^[6] Other paintings she completed there included The Red Brick House and a portrait of Helen Chaman Lall.^[6]

Four paintings were sold in total.^[13] Tyabji later recalled that "the exhibition was well attended", and that Sher-Gil appreciated that he bought The Story Teller.^[10][a] With the help of Chamanlall, The Little Girl in Blue was sold to Fabri.^[10] 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.^[1][10] The other painting sold was titled Pink Self-portrait.^[13][b]

At the opening, Manohar Lal praised the self-portrait she did not like.^[3] Fabri called the show a "revelation",^[2] and "a feast for the eyes".^[3] He called her work "essentially modern without being fantastic", while criticising it for being "decorative to the extreme".^[3] With eight annas per entry, the exhibition made around ₹25 a day from entrance fees alone.^[10] On 24 November 1937, reviews of the exhibition in the Civil and Military Gazette coincided with reviews of the block-buster film Jeevan Prabhat.^[10] One newspaper reported of the artwork that "each one seemed to excel the other in art and presentation".^[2]

This is a list of the 33 paintings exhibited at Lahore in 1937 as catalogued and titled in the original programme:^[1]

Catalogue number	Title	Image	Catalogue price (1937)	Notes
1	1937: The Bride's Toilet		₹1,500[1]	One of Sher-Gil's South Indian trilogy.[14]
2	1937: Brahmacharis		₹1,500[1]	One of Sher-Gil's South Indian trilogy.[14]
3	1935: Villagers in Winter		₹1,500[1]	Later known as Hill Men.[15]
4	1935: Hill Women		₹1,500[1]	Depicts a girl and three young women.[16]
5	1937: The Vina Player		Not for sale[1]	Sold to the Museum of Lahore.[10]
6	Greeting		₹200[1]
7	Woman and Children of Travancore		₹500[1]	Vivan Sundaram notes that this painting was later renamed Fruit Vendors,[17] though the exhibition catalogue lists both these as separate paintings (see 22).[1]
8	1935: The Man in White		₹350[1]	Offered ₹250[13]
9	1935: Mother India		₹500[1]
10	1937: Head of a Girl		₹150[1]
11	1935: Group of Young Girls		₹700[1]	Won the gold medal at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society in 1937.[18]
12	1934: The Little Girl in Blue		₹150[1]	Bought at the 1937 exhibition by Charles Fabri with the assistance of Diwan Chaman Lall.[10] Fetched ₹18.69 crore, or $2.67 million in 2018, through auction at Sotheby's, Mumbai.[19][20][21]
13	1935: On the Terrace		₹500[1]
14	1937: Girl with Pitcher		₹500[1]
15	Study in Green		Not for sale[1]
16	1933: A Professional Model		Not for sale[1]
17	1933: Sleep		₹1,000[1]	Earlier in 1937, Nawab Salar Jung had initially shown interest in it, though did not buy it. Later, Sher-Gil left it with Chaman Lall to "palm off", but it did not sell.[12]
18	1937: Siesta		₹750[1]
19	Landscape		₹100[1]
20	Self-Portrait		Not for sale[1]	Sold for ₹700.[13]
21	1935: My Father		Not for sale[1]
22	Fruit Vendors		₹250[1]	Vivan Sundaram notes that this painting was renamed from Woman and Children of Travancore (see 7),[17] though the exhibition catalogue lists both these as separate paintings.[1]
23	1935: South Indian Peasants going to Market		₹1,500[1]	One of Sher-Gil's South Indian trilogy, later known as South Indian Villagers Going to Market.[14]
24	The Girl in Red		₹500[1]
25	1932: Young Man with Apples		₹500[1]
26	Torso		Not for sale[1]
27	The Dreamer		₹500[1]
28	The Girl with the Glove		₹400[1]
29	Corner of a Studio in Paris		Not for sale[1]
30	Painting		₹350[1]	Shortly after the exhibition, Sher-Gil wrote to Karl Khandalavala that she was sending him (among five paintings), "my fantasy", "which I have called Painting".[1][13]
31	1937: The Story		₹350[1]	Bought at the exhibition by Badruddin Tyabji.[10] In 2023 it was sold for Rs 61.8 crore, equivalent to $7.45m.[7][22][23]
32	1937: Dressing the Bride		₹700[1]
33	Head		₹150[1]

• List of paintings by Amrita Sher-Gil