Anjolie Ela Menon

Born 1940 in Burnpur, West Bengal, Anjolie Ela Menon has a blended parentage of Bengali and American descent. She attended Lawrence School, Lovedale in Tamil Nadu and began painting at the early age of 15. Interestingly, at such a small age, she had effectively sold a couple of her paintings.

Menon has a degree in English Writing from Delhi University, but prior to that she

momentarily studied Applied Art at Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai. During this period, she was motivated by works of some exemplary Indian modern painters like M.F. Hussain and Amrita SherGill. At the age of 18, her first solo exhibition was conducted, which was a

compilation of fifty-three paintings with a variety of styles.

Menon prefers oil on Masonite as her constant medium, which became her benchmark. She employs translucent colours and thin washes. In addition to oil paintings and murals, she also works with computer graphics and Murano glass. She is best known for her religious-themed artworks, portraits, and nudes that consolidated a branch of shading, projecting an influence of cubism to the European Renaissance. More importantly, Menon’s work range in several subjects including mythology and history. Stylised and formatted, the figures in her works are painterly, narrating several accounts of routine and religion.

Widely exhibited in India and abroad, Menon’s has displayed her works in cities like Paris, Algiers, the US, France, and São Paulo. Having conducted more than 35 solo shows and multiple group exhibitions, in 2000, she was assigned to be the leading body of trustees of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). That year itself,  the Government of India bestowed Anjolie Ela Menon with the most esteemed Padmashree Award.