Ganga Devi (painter)

Ganga Devi (1928 – 21 January 1991)[1] was an Indian painter,[2] considered by many as one of the leading exponents of Madhubani painting tradition.[3] She is credited with popularizing the Madhubani painting outside India.[4] She was born in 1928 in Mithila in the Indian state of Bihar in a Kayastha family and took to the traditional painting craft, specialising in the kachni (line drawing) style.[5] She traveled abroad with her art and was a part of the Festival of India in the United States,[4] which yielded a number of paintings under the title, America series, including Moscow Hotel, Festival of American Folk Life, and Ride in a Roller Coaster.[3] The Government of India awarded her the National Master Craftsman Award[4] and followed it up with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1984.[6]

In the 1980s, Ganga Devi painted the famous mural Kohbar Ghar or bridal nuptial chamber at the Crafts Museum in Delhi. The Mural was painted over a period of three to four months while Ganga Devi was undergoing chemotherapy in a Delhi Hospital.[7] The Mural was demolished as part of a renovation plan at the Museum in early 2015.[8]

  1. ^ "Ganga Devi - Library of Congress". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ Jyotindra Jain (1989). "Ganga Devi: Tradition and expression in Madhubani painting". Third Text. 3 (6): 43–50. doi:10.1080/09528828908576213.
  3. ^ a b "Riding the Rollercoaster with Ganga Devi". 50 Watts. 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Madhubani Magic of Gangadevi". Pitara. 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Ganga Devi - Artist Profile". Mithila Paintings. 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Museum art erased". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Crafts museum 'renovation' wipes out famed Madhubani murals - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 March 2019.