Girl in iconic 'Glow of Hope' painting dies at 102
What's the story
The girl holding the lamp in the celebrated painting 'Glow of Hope', also known as the Woman With the Lamp, has died. She was 102.
Gita Uplekar died at her daughter's house in Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra, yesterday evening after a brief illness.
The painting, a watercolor masterpiece by SL Haldankar, is now housed in Jaychama Rajendra Art Gallery at Jaganmohan Palace in Mysuru, Karnataka.
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A bit about the legendary painting
The painting is one of the most prized possessions as well as a major attraction at the gallery.
It was painted in 1945-46, almost seven decades ago, but still holds the same amount of fascination for art lovers all over the country.
Interestingly, though the masterpiece is Haldankar's creation, it has been wrongly attributed to legendary painter Raja Ravi Varma.
Who's the muse?
Girl in the painting was painter Haldankar's third daughter
The girl in the painting was Gita Uplekar, Haldankar's third daughter. She was staying at Kolhapur since the 1940s after her marriage to jeweler Krishnakant Uplekar.
Her last rites were performed at 11pm yesterday, Raja Uplekar, Gita's nephew, said.
She is survived by two daughters and a son and was staying in the house of the daughter who lives in the US, he said.
Age
"I was 12, lighting a diya when bhau saw me"
"I was 12 and lighting the Diwali diya when Bhau (her father Haldankar) saw me and asked me to pose for the sketch," Gita had said, adding the painting was completed in three days.
Raja Uplekar informed, some years ago, a buyer from France was ready to shell out Rs. 8cr for the painting, but the Mysuru gallery did not part with the portrait.
Information
Gita had to pose for over three hours continuously
It had bought the painting from Haldankar for Rs. 300. When the painting was being done, she had to hold her pose for over three hours continuously, Gita Uplekar had said at an event in Kolhapur to mark her turning 100.