In remembrance

Manpriya Singh 

It was only last year Prof Jodh Singh fondly remembered legendary artist Syed Haider Raza, whom the art fraternity lost at the time. “His works are very colourful and well-defined, he inspired generations of young artists not to shy away from the use of colour.” Little did he know, that’s exactly how he’d be fondly remembered too. In context of promoting young talent. 

Prof Jodh Singh, senior artist from Chandigarh, National Awardee breathed his last on Tuesday morning. The art fraternity recalls the artist and the person that he was…

Promoter of art 

As an artist, his contribution to the artscape of Chandigarh is invaluable.  He was always up for promoting young talent. He was the founder member of fine arts department at GCG, being the first professor of arts there. His works apart, he was a truly large hearted artist, with his Punjabi hospitality intact.

  I once got the assignment of painting a 10 feet by 10 feet canvas; due to paucity of the required space at my place, I sought his permission for painting at the top floor of his residence. He happily let me use his place. In fact the art gallery at his residence was often lent to young artists for free. 

Bheem Malhotra—Chairman, 

Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi 

Ahead of his time

In his generation, he was among the good artists. Considering the fact that at the time, exposure to art was restricted in so many ways and there weren’t many platforms or mediums of keeping abreast with latest developments in the art world. His works were a mix of post impressionism and surrealism.

Diwan Manna, President, 

Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi. 

Abstract and different

He was a great promoter of art and artists, especially young and budding artists from Chandigarh. I met him several times in context of my book on art and he’d say, “I’m preparing mother of art so that they can further give birth to art.” A great thought I must say. His works were mostly abstract and quite different from others.  His father was an engineer and he wanted him too to pursue engineering but his heart was in arts. 

DS Kapoor, former Principal, 

Government College of Art 

Passion for art

He was an alumni of College of Art but I fondly remember him as  a great art educationist . He was really fond of promoting any student who had the slightest passion for art. In fact, once I happened to be taking a walk with him at the art gallery at his residence and he said, ‘I happened to set up this gallery just to promote young artists who otherwise don’t have the means to display their works’. He might be no more among us but his metaphysical presence continues among us through his works, some of which are even displayed at the portrait gallery in Sector 17. 

Ravinder Sharma, Vice Chairman, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi. 

Rooted artist

As an artist, he worked at the grassroots level, was a National Awardee and that itself speaks volumes about his works. He was instrumental in setting up the art infrastructure in Chandigarh at the time when art culture had not really taken off. So he can be credited with being the founder of art in the city. As a person he believed in promoting the young talent. He set up the gallery at his residence just to give a chance to budding artists. 

Viney Vadhera, painter and mask maker, Chandigarh