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Sotheby’s to auction Sobha Singh’s painting
Lalit Mohan/TNS

Dharamsala, February 24
A portrait of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh ruler of Punjab, by Sobha Singh would be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York on March 24. The portrait is being auctioned at the behest of a private art collector. It has been priced at $3-4 lakh (about Rs 2 crore in Indian rupee). 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, 39 by 29 inches in size, on sale 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. He remained there until his death, producing a body of work that won wide acclaim. The subjects of Sobha Singh’s paintings were drawn from Punjabi romantic folklore ‘Heer Ranjha’, ‘Sohni Mahiwal.’ Other sources were Hindu epics and the Sikh 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 recognition. 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 Dev 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.”