A Feminist History of India’s Modern Art Movement

India’s modern art movement has long been narrated through male-centric histories, often sidelining the women who shaped its visual language, politics, and emotional depth. A feminist reading of Indian modern art does not merely add women artists to an existing canon; it re-examines how gender, identity, labor, and resistance are embedded in artistic practice. From early pioneers working under social constraints to contemporary artists challenging power structures, women have continuously expanded the boundaries of Indian art, shares Shantala Palat, who is one of the leading contemporary artists and painters in India.

Early Voices: Learning Within Limitations

Mangalabai Thampuratti represents one of the earliest examples of women negotiating access to artistic training. An informal pupil of her brother, Raja Ravi Varma, she worked within a restrictive domestic environment yet absorbed academic realism and mythological themes. While history largely remembers Varma, Mangalabai’s practice reveals how women learned art through proximity rather than institutions, producing work that quietly mirrored and questioned dominant aesthetics.

Ambika Dhurandhar, wife of celebrated artist M.V. Dhurandhar, similarly practiced art in the shadows of patriarchy. Her work reflected refined draftsmanship and a sensitivity to domestic and social scenes, offering an intimate counterpoint to the grand narratives popular at the time.

Amrita Sher-Gil: The Radical Modernist

Amrita Sher-Gil stands as a turning point in Indian modernism. Educated in Europe yet deeply rooted in Indian realities, her paintings foregrounded women as complex emotional beings rather than idealised figures. Works like Three Girls and Bride’s Toilet challenged both colonial aesthetics and Indian conservatism. Sher-Gil’s gaze was unapologetically feminist, portraying female subjectivity, desire, and introspection with rare honesty.

Indigenous Women Artists: Reclaiming Visual Traditions

Artists from indigenous communities, particularly Madhya Pradesh, brought a feminist reclamation of folk traditions. Lado Bai and Bhuri Bai from the Gond community, and Durga Bai Vyam, transformed ritual art into contemporary expression. Their works depict nature, mythology, and daily life while asserting women’s roles as cultural knowledge-keepers. These artists disrupted the hierarchy between “folk” and “fine” art, insisting on visibility and authorship.

Breaking Barriers Through the Lens

Homai Vyarawalla, India’s first female photojournalist, revolutionised visual documentation in post-independence India. Her photographs of political leaders and public life challenged the gendered idea of who could occupy professional public spaces. Later photographers like Ketaki Sheth, Dayanita Singh, and Pushpamala N used photography to explore memory, gender performance, identity, and archival practices, expanding the medium beyond reportage into conceptual territory.

Contemporary Feminist Expressions Across Mediums

In painting and sculpture, Anju Dodiya, Bharti Kher, and Arpana Caur examine themes of vulnerability, mythology, migration, and political violence. Kher’s use of bindis questions cultural symbolism and female identity, while Caur’s politically charged canvases address displacement and injustice.

Conceptual artists Rummana Hussain, Mithu Sen, and Shilpa Gupta employ text, sound, performance, and interactive media to confront censorship, sexuality, borders, and power. Their works resist passive viewing, demanding ethical and political engagement.

Installation artists Sheela Gowda and Sharmila Samant use industrial and everyday materials—cow dung, hair, metal, and soil—to interrogate labour, gendered bodies, and social hierarchies. Their installations challenge the notion of permanence and aesthetic comfort.

A feminist history of India’s modern art movement reveals not a marginal narrative, but a foundational one. These artists did not merely participate in modernism—they redefined it. By centring women’s experiences, indigenous knowledge, and political dissent, they reshaped Indian art into a more inclusive, critical, and powerful cultural force.