Art
Sotheby's To Auction Sobha Singh's Ranjit Singh
by LALIT MOHAN
A portrait of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the early 19th century Emperor of Punjab, by Sobha Singh, will be auctioned at Sotheby's in New York on March 24, 2011.
The portrait is being auctioned at the behest of a private art collector. It has been priced at $300,000 - 400,000. Sotheby's is one of the most famous and oldest auction houses for art works in the world.
The portrait was most likely painted by Sobha Singh between 1947 and 1950. Its replica was also available in the Sobha Singh art gallery at Andretta near Palampur in Kangra district.
The portrait on sale - 39 by 29 inches in size - is an oil-on-canvas painting that bears the signature of Sobha Singh on the lower left portion.
It shows the Maharaja seated on a lion-crested silver throne wearing a brocade coat and a jewelled turban with a sword resting on his lap. The painting shows an older-looking Ranjit Singh but with his steely countenance and regal disposition undiminished.
Sobha Singh, one of the most respected Sikh painters of the 20th century, was a natural. He acquired training in art and craft briefly at the Industrial School, Amritsar. He began his career as an artist in 1923 but his most productive period began in 1949 when he established his studio in Andretta in the Kangra valley (then in Punjab).
He remained there until his death, producing a body of work that won world-wide acclaim. The subjects of Sobha Singh's paintings were drawn from Punjabi romantic folklore ‘Heer Ranjha', ‘Sohni Mahiwal.' Other sources were from the Sikh history and religious tradition.
Sobha Singh applied his training in Western academic realism to bring out the nuances of the stories and subjects that he painted, as seen in the present work.
Sobha Singh's representations of the Sikh Gurus won him acclaim. Portraying them was an act of faith for him and these works are infused with a mysticism that is difficult to define. His most famous portraits are those created to commemorate the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak and the 300th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh.
In 1983, he was awarded the Padma Shri.
Sobha Singh Art Gallery general secretary, Hirday Paul Singh, when contacted, said: "Information regarding the auction has been passed on to us as well. However, we do not have the resources to bid for the painting."
[Courtesy: Tribune]
February 25, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Bibek Singh (Jersey City, U.S.A.), February 25, 2011, 9:55 PM.
As per one of the sakhis, the moment Bhai Lehna heard Guru Nanak's hymns, he got very excited to meet him. He rode on his horse and went all the way to Guru Nanak's village. The moment he reached there, he started looking for pointers to his house. Upon inquiring from an old man, the latter replied - "Let me take you to Nanak's house". After a while, they reached there. Bhai Lehna requested the old man to call Nanak. The old man replied - "Please get down from your horse, tie it a tree and then come inside. In the meanwhile, I will call him". When Bhai Lehna did all this and went inside the hut, he saw the old man. He curiously asked - "Where is Nanak"? The old man replied - "I am Nanak". This Sakhi teaches many points. For the purpose of this discussion, the point to note is that there was no moon's or sun's reflection behind Nanak's head, as is depicted in all the photos we have seen till date, else Bhai Lehna could easily have identified Nanak. I have a strong feeling that things like attaching "Dev" to Guru Nanak's name, portraying a moon's or sun's reflection in his paintings and associating miracles with his life are nothing but attempts to divert all of us from his 'real message' AND to showcase him as an incarnation. We should not get swayed away by such attempts.