G.S. Sohan Singh
Photograph of the late G.S. Sohan Singh taken by his son, Satpal Singh 'Danish'
BornAugust 1914
Amritsar, Punjab
Died28 February 1999
OrganizationG. S. Sohan Singh Artist Memorial Trust
Known forSikh artist
ChildrenSurinder Singh (son)
Satpal Singh 'Danish' (son)
Hardeep Singh (grandson)
ParentGian Singh Naqqash (father)
Websitehttp://art-heritage.com/

G.S. Sohan Singh (August 1914 – 28 February 1999) was a Punjabi Sikh artist.[1][2][3]

Biography

Sohan Singh was born in August 1914 in Amritsar, British Punjab (now Punjab, India).[4] He was the son of Punjabi artist Gian Singh Naqqash and an apprentice of Hari Singh.[2] He attended school at Government High School, Amritsar up to the middle standard.[3] He had been instructed in the traditional Sikh school of art by his father, Gian Singh, but instead Sohan Singh opted for working with oil on canvas despite this education.[5] He was also taught the Kangra, Pahari, and Mughal schools of painting.[5] In 1932, he painted a now famous portrait of Banda Singh Bahadur which was a massive success with the public and jump-started his career as an artist.[3] He painted hundreds of portraits of famous Sikh personalities which includes portraits Guru Ram Das, Guru Nanak Dev, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, and Bhai Kanhaiya.[6][2] His style of painting was realistic, with focus on landscapes, Indian monuments, portraits, and imaginative subjects.[5]

Legacy

He had two sons, named Surinder Singh (born 1938) and Satpal Singh 'Danish' (born 1949), the latter of whom is outspoken on the conservation of Sikh art heritage.[2][5] Surinder Singh was old enough to remember seeing his grandfather, Gian Singh, at work.[5] Surinder Singh learnt about block printing (specifically in monochrome and tri-colour) with his father, Sohan Singh.[5] Surinder Singh would go on to become a successful and accomplished artist and photographer in his own regard.[5] Surinder Singh was also active in preserving the art heritage produced and mastered by his forebearers.[5]

Satpal Singh 'Danish' became an accomplished photographic journalist working for the press, taking pictures of and documenting many historical events, such as Operation Blue Star, Operation Black Thunder, and the Punjab Insurgency.[5] He became a realistic painter like his father, Sohan.[5] Furthermore, he creates poetry in the Punjabi-language and also is an author for Punjabi-language newspaper publications.[5]

Sohan's grandson, Hardeep Singh, is continuing the family legacy and is a painter as well, with an interest also in Gurmukhi calligraphy.[2][7][5] Hardeep Singh creates calligraphy in the traditional scriptio continua method of writing Gurmukhi, with the endonym term being larivaar.[5] He also has created his own font set and written literature on Punjabi and Gurmukhi calligraphy.[5]

The G. S. Sohan Singh Artist Memorial Trust is his namesake organization which was founded by his sons and grandson for the purpose of promoting the Sikh school of art.[2]

A granddaughter, Kirandeep Kaur, has authored two Punjabi books, one being on Sohan Singh and his legacy, Darvesh Chitrakar (2015) on G.S. Sohan Singh, and Hastakhar on Bhai Jaswant Singh, a "Hazoori Ragi".[5]

Books

  • Gian Chitravali: Masterpieces of the Late Bhai Gian Singh Naqqash (1956)[8][2]
  • Revealing the Art of G.S. Sohan Singh (1971)[8][2]
  • Amritsar – The Sacred City of the Sikhs[2]
  • Holy Places of Pilgrimage[2]

References

  1. ↑ "G.S. Sohan Singh". Gateway To Sikhism. 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bakshi, Artika Aurora; Dhillon, Ganeev Kaur (2021). "The Mural Arts of Panjab". Nishaan Nagaara Magazine (2021 annual issue). pp. 46–51. PDF. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  3. 1 2 3 Walia, Varinder (1 December 2005). "The rich life of an artist who was a pauper". The Tribune.
  4. ↑ "G.S. Sohan Singh Artist – Art Heritage". Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Kaur, Maneet (5 December 2018). "Mohrakashi and the Naqqashes of Harmandir Sahib - Overview". Sahapedia.
  6. ↑ Service, Tribune News. "Book on GS Sohan Singh released". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
  7. ↑ "Gurbani rendered in calligraphy". DNA India (republished by Sikh Net). 28 December 2009.
  8. 1 2 Chilana, Rajwant Singh (2006-01-16). International Bibliography of Sikh Studies. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4020-3044-4.
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