Latest news with #ClareLeighton
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Rare oil portrait of Mahatma Gandhi to be auctioned in London
A rare oil portrait of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi - painted in 1931 in the UK - will be auctioned in London next month. Gandhi led a non-violent resistance movement against British rule in India and his teachings have inspired millions. Most Indians revere him as the "father of the nation". Over the years, several paintings, drawings and sketches of him have circulated around the world. The auction house Bonhams says the painting, made by British artist Clare Leighton, is "thought to be the only oil portrait that Gandhi actually sat for". The portrait was made when Gandhi went to London in 1931 for the second Round Table conference, held to discuss constitutional reforms for India and address its demands for self-governance. It will be auctioned in the second week of July at Bonhams. "This is a painting of unique historic and cultural significance. It would be great if it could be seen and appreciated more widely, whether in India or elsewhere," Caspar Leighton, a great nephew of the artist, told the BBC. According to Bonhams, Clare Leighton "was one of the very few artists admitted to his office and was given the opportunity to sit with on multiple occasions to sketch and paint his likeness". The works remained in the artist's collection until her death in 1989 in the US, after which it was passed down through her family. She was introduced to Gandhi through her partner and British political journalist, Henry Noel Brailsford, who was a strong supporter of India's independence movement. In November 1931, Leighton showcased her portraits of Gandhi at an exhibition at the Albany Galleries in London. Though Gandhi did not attend the opening event, several representatives from the Indian delegation of the second Round Table were present. Among them was Sarojini Naidu, also an eminent Indian independence leader, who was one of the key advisors to Gandhi at the meeting. The exhibition included a charcoal sketch of Gandhi, asleep in his office, along with the oil portrait that is now set to be auctioned. About the painting of Gandhi, British Journalist Winifred Holtby wrote: "The little man squats bare-headed, in his blanket, one finger raised, as it often is to emphasise a point, his mouth parted for a word that is almost a smile". The following month, Gandhi's personal secretary Mahadev Desai wrote to Leighton, saying, "many of my friends who saw it [the oil portrait] in the Albany Gallery said to me that it was a good likeness". There doesn't seem to be any public record of the oil portrait being displayed elsewhere until 1978, when the Boston Public Library organised an exhibition of Leighton's works. However, according to the artist's family, the portrait was thought to have been on display in the 1970s in the US, where it was allegedly damaged in a knife attack. A label attached to the backing board of the portrait says it was restored by the Lyman Allyn Museum Conservation Laboratory in Connecticut in 1974. The details of the alleged attack are not clear - according to Bonhams, it was carried out by a right-wing Hindu activist. Hindu hardliners in India accuse Gandhi of having betrayed Hindus by being too pro-Muslim, and blame him for the division of India and the bloodshed that marked Partition, which saw India and Pakistan created after independence in 1947. He was shot dead on 30 January 1948 at a prayer meeting by Nathuram Godse, an activist with nationalist right-wing groups.
BBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Mahatma Gandhi: India independence leader's oil portrait to be auctioned in London
A rare oil portrait of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi - painted in 1931 in the UK - will be auctioned in London next led a non-violent resistance movement against British rule in India and his teachings have inspired millions. Most Indians revere him as the "father of the nation".Over the years, several paintings, drawings and sketches of him have circulated around the world. The auction house Bonhams says the painting, made by British artist Clare Leighton, is "thought to be the only oil portrait that Gandhi actually sat for". The portrait was made when Gandhi went to London in 1931 for the second Round Table conference, held to discuss constitutional reforms for India and address its demands for self-governance. It will be auctioned in the second week of July at Bonhams. "This is a painting of unique historic and cultural significance. It would be great if it could be seen and appreciated more widely, whether in India or elsewhere," Caspar Leighton, a great nephew of the artist, told the to Bonhams, Clare Leighton "was one of the very few artists admitted to his office and was given the opportunity to sit with on multiple occasions to sketch and paint his likeness".The works remained in the artist's collection until her death in 1989 in the US, after which it was passed down through her was introduced to Gandhi through her partner and British political journalist, Henry Noel Brailsford, who was a strong supporter of India's independence movement. In November 1931, Leighton showcased her portraits of Gandhi at an exhibition at the Albany Galleries in London. Though Gandhi did not attend the opening event, several representatives from the Indian delegation of the second Round Table were present. Among them was Sarojini Naidu, also an eminent Indian independence leader, who was one of the key advisors to Gandhi at the meeting. The exhibition included a charcoal sketch of Gandhi, asleep in his office, along with the oil portrait that is now set to be auctioned. On the painting of Gandhi sleeping, British Journalist Winifred Holtby wrote: "The little man squats bare-headed, in his blanket, one finger raised, as it often is to emphasise a point, his mouth parted for a word that is almost a smile".The following month, Gandhi's personal secretary Mahadev Desai wrote to Leighton, saying, "many of my friends who saw it [the oil portrait] in the Albany Gallery said to me that it was a good likeness". There doesn't seem to be any public record of the oil portrait being displayed elsewhere until 1978, when the Boston Public Library organised an exhibition of Leighton's according to the artist's family, the portrait was thought to have been on display in the 1970s in the US, where it was allegedly damaged in a knife attack. A label attached to the backing board of the portrait says it was restored by the Lyman Allyn Museum Conservation Laboratory in Connecticut in details of the alleged attack are not clear - according to Bonhams, it was carried out by a right-wing Hindu activist. Hindu hardliners in India accuse Gandhi of having betrayed Hindus by being too pro-Muslim, and blame him for the division of India and the bloodshed that marked Partition, which saw India and Pakistan created after independence in was shot dead on 30 January 1948 at a prayer meeting by Nathuram Godse, an activist with nationalist right-wing groups.
Business Times
23-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Two women entrepreneurs on how they tackled tradition and gender biases to transform their businesses
[SINGAPORE] Jenny Tay and Clare Leighton share one thing in common: they are women leading their respective small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – Direct Funeral Services and fileAI, respectively – and who have refined business operations in their sectors, introduced innovation and challenged longstanding industry norms. Both told their stories at UOB's womenpreneur panel discussion held at the National Gallery Singapore on Apr 11. Direct Funeral Services Just over a decade after taking over the family business, managing director Jenny Tay and her husband, Darren Cheng, its chief executive officer, have instituted wide-ranging changes at Direct Funeral Services. The company was set up in the 90s by her father, Roland Tay, who is well-known for offering pro bono funerals for the underprivileged and victims of tragic, high-profile murder cases. He has handed over the management reins to his daughter and son-in-law, but still plays a role manning the company's customer hotline. In 2013, the young couple stepped into the business 'out of love', inspired by the elder Tay's commitment to helping others. But their early days were not easy. They came up against resistance from industry veterans, who asked why a well-educated woman like Jenny Tay would enter what they saw as a 'dying trade'. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am SGSME Get updates on Singapore's SME community, along with profiles, news and tips. Sign Up Sign Up The couple set out to challenge outdated perceptions. Their first step was to professionalise the team by introducing uniforms, streamlining the workflow and elevating the standard of service. Though change did not happen overnight, Jenny Tay noted that the company's staff felt that they came to be accorded more respect by their clients, who even addressed them by name. Since the couple took over, they have introduced personalised memorial biographies for their clients, Jenny Tay told The Business Times on the sidelines of the UOB panel discussion. These biographies are generated by an in-house-developed artificial intelligence (AI) platform that creates the life stories of the deceased – shifting the focus at wakes from how someone died to how they lived. Direct Funeral Services had started out writing each biography from scratch, but as demand for these memorial biographies grew, AI enabled them to offer this service at scale. Families furnish the key details, and the system comes up with the life stories that are shared at wakes and memorials. Jenny Tay said that machine-generated biographies may seem less personal, but they reduce the emotional strain of repeated questions from visitors at wakes. This enables visitors to connect with the person's legacy in a more meaningful way. A tech innovation introduced in March was the Memory Weave app, through which guests at wakes and memorials contribute photos and videos of the deceased as a digital gift to the family. These go on show on a monitor at the funeral. Another innovation is the use of therapeutic music through a collaboration with the Teng Ensemble, a Singaporean Chinese fusion music group, to support individuals coping with grief. Jenny Tay was inspired after attending one of the group's concerts, where binaural beats were woven into their compositions to ease anxiety. This method is already being used in hospitals and eldercare homes. 'It sparked in me that we can use that for our grieving families,' she said. Following studies with higher learning institutions, Direct Funeral Services incorporated monaural beats – suitable for open settings like wakes – into their funeral music. The result is a calming soundscape that helps the bereaved process emotions more naturally. This will be launched by August. The couple also went on to found Direct Life Foundation, the charitable arm of Direct Funeral Services which supports vulnerable seniors and underprivileged children through community care. Direct Funeral Services has undergone significant growth and transformation since 2013, expanding from a five-person team to a staff of 80. Once largely made up of workers in their 40s to 60s, the team now comprises mainly younger professionals in their 20s to 40s. They have seen a fifteenfold increase in revenue since 2013, the managing director said. 'Our people find the work meaningful,' Jenny Tay said. 'With our commitment to raising service standards in the industry, we've earned the trust of families – many of whom return to us because they believe in what we do.' FileAI Leighton, co-founder and chief operating officer of fileAI, did not face the challenge of bringing a traditional business up to date like Tay did, but said she had to contend with other biases. Set up at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Singapore-based startup was the result of integrating AI and machine learning to better manage documents and information. Leighton said the idea for the business came from a pain point she experienced first-hand, when she had to get a large volume of documents organised. FileAI uses a combination of off-the-shelf and proprietary AI to automate the extraction and processing of unstructured data – imposing organisation on the data found in, for example, PDFs, spreadsheets and e-mails. It helps businesses streamline high-volume workflows across industries such as finance, insurance and supply chain operations. She told The Business Times: 'We felt it acutely. During the lockdown, when early customers weren't drawing revenue, they were still willing to subscribe and pay for a product they couldn't even see. That kind of validation gave us the confidence to keep building (the business).' The Australian's journey into tech began in 2016 at a fledgling Uber, at a time of its rapid growth. 'Uber (at that time) was a great case study and cautionary tale for companies that do not properly address diversity and inclusion early, also with leadership and development,' she said. She said that during Uber's hypergrowth phase, promotions happened rapidly – leading to unconscious bias and systemic issues in hiring. 'We talk about it now as 'cookie-cutter hiring'. The thinking was: 'Did they go to the same university as him, have the same degree?' It was hiring done in your own image, and it stifled diversity and innovation,' Leighton said. These experiences shaped her approach to leadership at fileAI. She believes in removing the so-called 'gender lens' that typically frames women's stories around identity, rather than their capability. While she acknowledges the challenges of being a woman in tech, she is careful not to overemphasise gender in evaluating success. Leighton said: 'A lot of my mentors, a lot of the growth and opportunities I was given, were merit-based, and it was with men in the room, or men leading me. So while we need more female leadership, it is limiting to think we need only women mentors.' Just five years since its launch, fileAI now operates in 18 countries, with teams in five of them. The company has grown steadily and, as of February this year, raised US$14 million in a Series A funding, further cementing its place in the AI-driven productivity space.
