Sita Devi

Acquired from Handicraft & Handlooms Export Corporation, New Delhi, 1975

Sita Devi was born in 1914, and is an esteemed Mithila (or Madhubani) painter from Jitwarpur, Bihar. She was part of the pioneering shift which transposed the art form from the walls of the domestic space onto paper and canvas. Mithila painters use natural pigments and dyes, applied with brushes, fingers, twigs, matchsticks or nib pens. The paintings reveal striking patterns, incorporating traditional Indian themes and motifs. Though she was illiterate, Devi painted in a visual language that combined color, mythology, heritage, and womanhood. The present lot is an exquisite example of Devi’s unique ability to blend tradition and modernity together in vivid colour.

In 1969, Madhubani painting received its long overdue recognition when the government of Bihar awarded Sita Devi for her incredible work. She was an artist in residence, at the National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum in New Delhi and in 1975, she received the National Award. In 1981, she was awarded the Padma Shri and in 1984, she received the Bihar Ratna Samman.

During the course of her career, Devi's work has been exhibited in more than ten countries. They are also in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris and the Mithila Museum in Japan to name a few international institutions.