Sardar Ganda Thakar Singh

Acquired in Highland, California, 2023

Celebrated Indian painter, Sardar Ganda Thakar Singh was born in a small village outside Amritsar in 1899. He began his career working for theatrical companies in Bombay and Calcutta but soon became renowned for his painting. In 1917, at age eighteen, Thakar Singh won a Rs. 500 prize in an exhibition in Simla, and in 1924, was awarded second prize at the British Empire Exhibition in London. Two years later, the artist co-founded the Punjab Fine Art Society in Calcutta, and then in 1931, he established the Thakar Singh School of Arts in his hometown of Amritsar.

Working mainly in oil, pastel and watercolor, Thakar Singh’s beautiful, yet academic works evince a delicate and skillful understanding of his medium. This mastery is illustrated in this interwoven group composition of a village fair. Through the low perspective and the scene’s intricate details – the women’s dress and drapery, the subjects’ interaction and facial expression and the fair in the background – the artist immerses the viewer within the composition. The pastel undertones create a soft warmth that permeates every aspect of the painting.