Anjolie Ela Menon

Anjolie Ela Menon (b. July 17, 1940)

Anjolie Ela Menon was born in erstwhile Bengal (pre-partition). She studied at the Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai for a brief period, and then went on to study English literature at Miranda House, New Delhi. She finally landed at the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris. 

Her art practice mirrors her varied range of training, not conforming to any genre or ideology, charting her own unique path. 

Anjolie Ela Menon’s paintings invariably conjure images with translucent layers of paint applied on hard board, or Masonite - the brand used by her, giving them a luminous quality. Her love affair with this medium continued throughout her career. Though she also experimented by introducing reclaimed ornate window frames. The window series, as it came to be known, was extremely popular. Anjolie took the experiment further by painting on chairs, and using popular Bollywood figures and kitsch imagery. 

The other subjects that reflect in her works mythological figures, particularly from the Indian pantheon. Whilst a student in Paris she was also inspired and influenced by the Byzantine frescoes and stain glass window from the medieval period. Anjolie included these imageries in her work, especially through jewel like colour tones. 

In the decade of the 1990’s, she created sculptures in Murano glass, one series was abstract forms and the other depicted Indian gods. 

Ajnolie Ela Menon has been conferred with the Padma Shri in 2000 by the Government of India, and the Kalidas Samman Award by the Madhya Pradesh Government. The artist currently lives and works in Delhi.