• A photo exhibition by Dr Madhumeet Singh, entitled “The Spiti valley”, depicting various hues of the tough terrain of the Spiti valley of Lahaul and Spiti district was inaugurated at Artist Residency at Sobha Singh Art Gallery at Andretta.
• Prof Dhara Pathania and Bibi Gurcharan Kaur, daughter of artist Sobha Singh, jointly inaugurated the exhibition.
• They said the services of such artists depicting the beauty of the state should be utilised by the agencies concerned as brand ambassadors of the state.
• Organised on the eve of Teachers’ Day, the exhibition has been dedicated to his teacher parents by photo artist Dr Madhumeet.
• He said the 30 exhibited photographs depicted geography, flora and fauna, art and culture and life of the Spiti valley.

Sobha Singh Art Gallery– Andretta

• Andretta is a village located near Palampur in the Kangra District.
• The Sobha Singh Art Gallery is a very significant art center and an integral part of Punjab’s history.
• The majority of the paintings here are influenced by the Kangra School of art and have been executed in western classical oil painting techniques.
• Sculptures and busts of M.S. Randhawa, Prithviraj Kapoor, and Nirmal Chandra can be found in the art gallery.
• Sobha Singh has created portraits of many Indian national heroes such as Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Mahatma Gandhi, and Lal Bahadur Shastri in addition to that of the Sikh Gurus.

About S.Sobha Singh

• Sobha Singh, regarded as one of India’s best painters of the twentieth century, was born on November 29, 1901, in Sri Hargobindpur (Gurdaspur), Punjab, India.
• He learned and perfected painting by self-study. As a draughtsman, S.Sobha Singh joined the British Indian Army and was stationed in Iraq.
• He was much inspired by the works of English painters and studied European paintings.
• He left the army in 1923 and returned to Amritsar, where he established an art studio. On the auspicious day of Baisakhi of the same year, he married Bibi Inder Kaur.
• He had studios in Amritsar, Lahore (1926), and Delhi (1931).
• Sobha Singh had the opportunity to participate in art shows in Delhi, where he received accolades and medals.
• Being a portrait painter, he was commissioned to paint portraits of various Indian Emperors.
• S Sobha Singh painted hundreds of paintings during his 38-year residence at Andretta. Sikh Gurus, their lives and work, where his main emphasis.
• His dedication to the spiritual souls was manifested in his depiction of Gurus. He used to say, “ I have painted Gurus to inspire people.”  Guru Nanak, he believed, was a manifestation of his meditation.
• He also painted powerful portraits of various national heroes such as Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Mahatma Gandhi, and others, as well as many Indian army war heroes.
• Sobha Singh, popularly known as people’s painter passed away on 22 August 1986 at Chandigarh and was cremated with full state honors.