Y.G. Srimati

Y.G. Srimati (1926 - 2007), born in Mysore, India, was an artist and musician. From a very young age, she was trained in classical music, dance and painting . Y.G. Srimati became a highly accomplished vocalist and performer of Carnatic music and became a participant of the Indian Independence Movement from Chennai. She was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and at rallies addressed by him she would perform devotional songs in various Indian languages. She dedicated her art work to nationalist themes, often painting figures from Hindu mythology, her style being influenced by Nandalal Bose and the frescoes of the Ajanta Caves.

Family

Y.G. Srimati was mentored by her elder brother Y.G. Doraisami, in painting, classical dance, instrumental music and singing. Her grandfather was the chief astrologer in the court of the Maharaja of Mysore. The family initials of 'Y.G.' was an honorific title granted by the Maharaja. Her grandfather died when her father was a year old and her family's land was seized. Her father was married off at the age of six and was disinherited. Following which he dedicated himself to the education of his children.

Srimati danced as a child and her first solo performance happened when she was seven. She started to paint when she was in her early teens. Her brother was an art collector and he sponsored various artists.

Career

The theme of Y.G. Srimati's paintings was based on devotion. She did not date or sign her work. Her work was influenced by ragas, dance positions and mythological tales. When she was 26, she had her first exhibition, inaugurating the Centenary Hall Madras Museum in the year 1952. Other exhibitions and work include:

• 1955 All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi
• 1959 Beryl DeZoete invited her to England. Her time in England entailed concert performances, performances for BBC, teaching and exhibitions.
• 1960 New York publisher George Macy Companies offered her a commission to illustrate the Bhagavad Gita, upon completion of which, she was invited to New York.
• 1964-1969 she attended the Art Students League after being provided with a Board of Control Scholarship to study printmaking.
• 1960s to 1980, she supported herself through teaching, commissions and exhibitions. Her time in America was spent on telling stories about religion and culture in India through the means of watercolours as well as classical music and dance.
• 1967, she was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution to create an etching for the Geneva Peace Conference. She was a participant of the Vietnam War protests.

Being a trained classical dancer, a lot of her artwork was dedicated to the treatment of the physical form. Some of her more popular paintings comprise 'The Bullock Cart' and 'Parashurama'. She died in 2007 in her hometown Chennai, at the age of 81. The first retrospective exhibition of her work An Artist of Her Time : Y.G. Srimati and the Indian Style opened at the Met Museum, New York in 2016.