Noted Painter Lalitha Lajmi, Sister Of Filmmaker Guru Dutt, Dies

Artist Lalitha Lajmi, late actor-filmmaker Guru Dutt's sister, died on Monday at the age of 90. Taking to Twitter, the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) shared the news of her demise.

"With Profound grief and sorrow NGMA, Mumbai, Ministry of Culture, Government of India shares the news of demise of veteran artist and printmaker Smt. Lalitha Lajmi who left for heavenly abode this morning(13.02.2023). Our Deepest Condolences. RIP," NGMA wrote in the caption of the post. 

With Profound grief and sorrow NGMA, Mumbai, Ministry of Culture, Government of India shares the news of demise of veteran artist and printmaker Smt. Lalitha Lajmi who left for heavenly abode this morning(13.02.2023).
Our Deepest Condolences. RIP pic.twitter.com/TIrEmZjAHn

— National Gallery of Modern Art New Delhi (@ngma_delhi) February 13, 2023

Ms Lajmi was born to a poet father and a poly-linguistic writer mother in Kolkata in 1932. She was a self-taught artist with a keen interest in classical dance. Over the decades, she held several exhibitions at international art galleries in Paris, London and Netherlands. 

NGMA described Ms Lajmi as an "unparalleled watercolourist". Through her work, she usually narrated a layered history of the modern Indian woman in the decades that followed Independence. 

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"Often her works reflect the hidden tensions that exist between men and women, captured in the different roles they play. Yet, her women are not meek individuals, but assertive and individualistic, with a strong autobiographical element," NGMA said. 

Condoling Ms Lajmi's death, Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF), Mumbai, wrote, "We are deeply saddened by the news of artist Lalitha Lajmi's passing. Lajmi was a self-taught artist with a keen interest in classical dance. Her works had an element of melancholy and performance, seen here in her artwork, 'Dance of Life and Death'". 

Notably, Ms Lajmi played a small cameo in Aamir Khan starrer 'Tare Zameen Par', as the chief guest for the intra-school art competition.