page_title: Y.G. Srimati
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Y.G. Srimati / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: Indian; Vina; Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
context_page_description: Y.G. Srimati 20th century artist, born in Mysore, India, was an artist and musician. From a very young age, she was trained in Indian classical music, dance and painting. Y.G. Srimati became a highly accomplished vocalist and performer of Carnatic music and became a participant of the Indian Independence Movement from Chennai. She was deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and at rallies addressed by him she would perform devotional songs in various Indian languages. She dedicated her art work to nationalist themes, often painting figures from Hindu mythology, her style being influenced by Nandalal Bose and the frescoes of the Ajanta Caves. Her talent was recognized and in 1952 during her first solo exhibition
context_section_description: Born in 1926 in Mysore in Karnataka, Srimati grew up in coastal Chennai in a Tamil Brahmin family. Her older brother, Y.G. Doraisami, mentored her in classical dance, singing, instrumental music and painting. Her grandfather was the chief astrologer in the court of the Maharaja of Mysore. The family initials of 'Y.G.' was an honorific title granted by the Maharaja. Her grandfather died when her father was a year old and her family's land was seized. Her father was married off at the age of six and was disinherited. Following which he dedicated himself to the education of his children.
  Srimati danced as a child and her first solo performance happened when she was seven. She started to paint when she was in her early teens. Her brother was an art collector and he sponsored various artists.
  In 1963, she got a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York, where she met fellow artist, Michael Pellettieri. They later became partners and he even went to contribute some of the paintings made by her to Metropolitan Museum of Art after she died.
caption: Vina (वीणा) MET midp2009.531 det7
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