Marie Louis Chassany

"…I believe that it is impossible to fully transform one’s sexual desires into art, to idealize it and tranquil it through art for a whole lifetime this is only a stupid superstition of the feeble brain. Marie Louise was such an abnormal type of woman, we never had anything sexual between us." - Amrita Sher-Gil

Marie Louis Chassany was an artist whose close acquaintance was one of the Indian modernists, Amrita Sher-Gil. Chassany’s self-portrait, the only available work, portrays the legible impact of the prevalent European classical style. Being a classmate of Amrita at Ecole-des Baux in Paris, the close relationship between them had sparked several rumours. As generally mentioned, Chassany was supposedly an intimate partner of Amrita.

The narrative of Amrita Sher-Gil undoubtedly highlights a classic merger of European with Indian artistic sensibilities. Having visited Ajanta and other Indian heritage sites, Amrita was moved to observe the rich tradition of indigenous art, which also augmented a new direction in her aesthetic practice. Significantly, there appears a quite clear similarity between Chassany and Amrita’s approach in method, style and colour application. Apparently, Chassany had gifted her self portrait to Amrita, which she brought with her while returning to India.  In 2000, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi had exhibited Chassany’s self-portrait, which erroneously is attributed to Amrita.

The self-portrait serves towards a historical legacy of a European woman artist from the period that seminally proves to be a crucial junction in Indian modern art.