Anjolie Ela Menon (India, B.1940) Crow image size (in) 12 x 9.5Anjolie Ela Menon (India, B.1940)Crow signed Anjolie Ela Menon '20 lower right and edition 24/100 lower leftserigraph in 12 colours on paper, framed33.6 x 26.4cm (13 1/4 x 10 3/8in).image size (in) 12 x 9.5ProvenanceArcher Graphic Studio, Ahmedabad.Born in Burnpur, Bengal, Menon studied at the Sir JJ. School of Art in Bombay, obtained a degree in English literature from Delhi University, and subsequently went to Paris where she studied Frescos at the École des Beaux-Arts. Influenced by Modigliani, Husain and Shergil, she is known primarily for her figurative works, in which she developed the distinctive features of early Christian art, in particular that of the frontal perspective, the slight body elongation and the averted head, but focussed on the female nude as her protagonist. In her later works she features black crows, as in the present lot, hidden figures, empty chairs and windows. These symbols that she has come to be known for arise from the mundane rather than the heroic. The repetition of these motifs have elevated them to a symbolic status, and these every day objects or in this case bird, contextualised or used as an embellishment tells its on story, which is Menon's story. Her works have been exhibited worldwide are kept as part of the collections of the Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco and the National Gallery of Modern Art. Her most recent retrospective titled, Anjolie Ela Menon: A Retrospective was held in 2017 at Aicon Gallery. Prior to that the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai held her retrospective in 2002 which then travelled to Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi. She is the recipient of the Padma Shree (2000), India's fourth highest civilian honour.