
Oliver White
Head of Department
Sold for £12,500 inc. premium
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The painting depicts the moment in 1507 when Guru Nanak emerged from the river near his home - after going missing for three days, and believed drowned - and spoke the words 'There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim', thus proclaiming the foundation of the Sikh religion.
Sobha Singh was one the best known Sikh artists of the 20th Century, and is sometimes grouped together with the 'Punjab naturalists', who include Allah Bukhsh and S. G. Thakur Singh. In addition to his pictures of the leaders of the Sikh religion he is well known for his depictions of scenes from Punjabi folk tales, and his landscapes scenes of the foothills and mountain peaks of the Himalayas.
Most of his works were on canvas but towards the end of his life he began to use hardboard, as in the present lot. (See Kulwant Singh Khokhar, Sobha Singh: Artist, Patiala 1995, p. 68).