
Oliver White
Head of Department


£5,000 - £7,000
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Head of Department
Provenance:
Private UK collection.
Exhibited:
Simla Fine Arts Society, circa 1935.
These two paintings - apparently the earliest known works by the artist - are in 'an accomplished but somewhat sugary style that reminds us of Edmund Dulac', as Partha Mitter describes it (The Triumph of Modernism: India's artists and the avant-garde 1922-1947, London 2007, p. 146). They contrast with his rather harder-edged depictions of the Sikh gurus.
The label gives the artist's name and address (describing him as an 'amateur'), the title, and the price (Rs 225). The address, Karol Bagh, Delhi, gives us an approximate date for the pictures, since Sobha Singh lived there between 1931 and 1941. (See Kulwant Singh Khokhar, Sobha Singh: Artist, Patiala 1995, pp. 24-28). The Simla Fine Arts Society had a membership composed mostly of army officers, which largely broke up after the Japanese began to threaten Burma and India itself from 1942 onwards. Amrita Sher Gil also exhibited there.