Print size: 19.2 x 38.7 in. / 48.8 x 98.3 cm. Paper size: 30.2 x 40.0 in. / 76.2 x 111.8 cm.
medium
Etching and aquatint on paper
It was the attempt by the Kaurav princes to outrage Draupadi’s modesty—the wife of the Pandavas—that led to the war of the Mahabharat. Saved by Lord Krishna, Draupadi vowed to keep her hair untied till her humiliation was avenged. It is this vital episode from the Mahabharat that Anupam Sud has essayed in this work. Here, she presents a visual demarcation, a trope she has often used in her works to present the dichotomy of situations. Dominating the picture plane is Draupadi with her untied hair; in the background are her five defeated husbands. The right of the print, however, presents a modern woman, a contrast to Draupadi. Sporting a bikini and stilettoes, she stands confidently, not only flaunting her sexuality but also daring the onlooker to make of her what they would.
published references
Sen, Geeti, Transgression in Print: Anupam Sud, Four Decades (New Delhi: Palette Art Gallery, 2007), p.113 Sen, Geeti, Your History Gets in the Way of My Memory (Noida: Harper Collins, 2012) p. 50 Sengupta, Paula, The Soul (Un)Gendered: Anupam Sud, A Retrospective (New Delhi: DAG, 2019), pp. 248-249 Singh, Kishore, ed., Ways of Seeing: Women Artists | Women as Muse (New Delhi: DAG, 2021), p. 88 A Place in the Sun: Women Artists from 20th Century India (New Delhi: DAG, 2021), p. 71
Anupam Sud
Draupadi’s Vow
2006
Etching and aquatint on paper
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Anupam Sud
Draupadi’s Vow
2006
Etching and aquatint on paper
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