This is also the case with "Hill Women" (1935), which depicts a silent group walking to market, and "The Swing" (1940). Although the women in these works are bathed in luminous tones of red, in spite of their activity and the brilliant color the painting emits a timeless calm.

Sponsor Message.

Solid silence also hangs suspended in the painting "The Bath" (1940), which depicts a solitary female nude wrapped in privacy by a temporary cloth shield, yet exposed to the artist and viewer.

Vivan Sundaram interprets Sher-Gil's painting "Two Girls" (1939) as one in which the physical and emotional longing of two women for one another is tangible.

Although homoeroticism is never explicit in Sher-Gil's paintings, the distance of the figures from one another is remarkably reminiscent of the remoteness expressed in Khakhar's early paintings and may constitute a code for the depiction of homosexuality within an oppressive society. We can only speculate how Sher-Gil would have further developed her art had she lived longer.

Conclusion

Although homosexuality, gender-bending, cross-dressing and third-gender expression has always had a place in Indian art and culture, today homosexuality in south Asia is deplored by fundamentalists as a Western import. However, it is clear that many of India's favorite gods embraced and celebrated diversity.

Perhaps individuals whose sexual expressions differ from that of the majority can draw strength and inspiration from these roots. There may also be reason to hope for greater tolerance for sexual minorities in India. The recent election of a hijra as mayor in Uttar Pradesh may be a harbinger of increased respect for sexual diversity.

Buddhism is unusual among world religions in that it generally expresses neutrality on the issue of homosexuality.

Chinese mythology is rich in stories about homosexuality.

Chinese mythology is rich in stories about homosexuality.

Female impersonation need say nothing about sexual identity, but it has for a long time been almost an institutionalized aspect of gay male culture.

The dominant religion of modern India, Hinduism is no longer as tolerant of same-sex sexual relations as it seems to have been in the past.

Indian thought towards same-sex eroticism and gender variance was more tolerant in the past than it is today.

The apparent invisibility of homosexuality in the visual arts of Islam is no indication of its absence in the culture.

The Hijras--men who dress and act like women--have been a presence in India for generations, maintaining a third-gender role that has become institutionalized through tradition.

Contemporary Indian artist Bhupen Khakhar has earned an international reputation for paintings that are explicitly homosexual in theme, but that also address universal human needs.