Sikh painting

The sikh style of painting spread from Punjab hills to Punjab plain and it flourished between 18th - 19th century.

History

Sikh paintings style was majorly established in the 19th century and the artist of the style were not from Punjab but from surrounding regions, they either came looking for new commission or they were invited by the royal or aristocrats. W.B. Archer writes that at the start of the 19th century, Pahari painters were invited to paint portraits of sikh rulers, nobility and influential families.. Another group of painters migrated from Mughal Empire, after the slow decline of the empire there were no patrons to commission new works.There are records at the Sikh Court of Lahore which has names of several Pahari painters working there.

Main centres where the sikh paintings flourished were Lahore, Amritsar, Patiala, Nabha, Kapurthala and Jind. Chiefs of these states be came the patrons of Miniature painting in the 19th century similarly as the Mughal Empire, they also maintained well-trained group of artists and their artelier. Lahore was already a seat of Mughal Power , thus consisted of a group of calligraphers, architects and craftsman, thus their state attracted more gifted artists to decorate the palaces with larger life size portraits. However, one of the biggest patron of the style was Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Amritsar.Another historic event which brought famous artists of the Kangra court to the court of Maraja Ranjit Singh. when he defeated the Kangra rule Sansar Chand.

The style was discovered by Dr. Anand Coomaraswamy, Percy Brown and S.N. Dasgupta, in the middle of the twentieth century ,in the streets of Amritsar and Lahore. More scholarship was developed on the subject in the second half of the century.

Themes

The painting style which developed in 19th century was not a prototype of Pahari painting not it was highly influenced by the Mughal style and did not have the properties of the Awadhi style, which developed in Lucknow., it was more of an eclectic style where it had developed its own theme and characteristics inspired from the Sikh culture, although, the colour scheme and ornamentation styles of the earlier influences were retained.

Main themes of the Sikh school of the paintings were the Ten Sikh Gurus, Portraits of chiefs of state and nobility, scenes from the court.

Sikh paintings attained new heights during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule. He encouraged the artists to draw and paint dignitaries and guests. The famous Pahari painter — Nain Sukh — was closely associated with the Lahore Court. Years later, the descendants of Nain Sukh created several magnificent paintings for the Patiala rulers. The records at the Sikh Court of Lahore include lists of several Pahari painters working there.