J P Singhal’s Paintings Stir Up The Art World; Artists Describe
Singhal As Raja Ravi Verma Of The Current Era
Mumbai: The art world is silently paving way for a new master. After the demise
of J P Singhal a little more than a year ago, his original paintings started appearing
in the public domain and since then has been stirring up a resurgent interest
in the artist. The reclusive artist whose original paintings had very limited
public exposure was, ironically, the highest selling painter in India with his
works being reproduced over 800 million times.
“J P
Singhal’s realistic works are unarguably some of the finest that I have seen. I
have always felt that he is the Raja Ravi Verma of this era,” says renowned
artist Brinda Miller. And that is a view echoed by many in the art world. His range
of mythological works is considered masterpieces that cannot be compared to any
paintings across the world. A national award winner, J P Singhal has painted
over 2700 original works, most of which belong to private collections.
“I am
extremely impressed with the works of J P Singhal. The clarity and
distinctiveness are vivid and lifelike. There have been very few painters who
could paint with so much vividness, clarity and distinctiveness. I am also very
impressed with the way his older works have been preserved,” says art collector
and industrialist Parvez Damania.
His first retrospective held in Mumbai last week saw artists,
painters, actors, collectors and art aficionados congregating to pay tributes
and view the works of the Master. “Even though I have been extensively
photographed by J P Singhal, this is the first time I have been exposed to his
paintings. This has been an exhilarating experience. The paintings are
brilliant and beautiful,” says former Miss India and film star, Juhi Chawla.
Ad-man Prahlad Kakkar meanwhile added that he was inspired by the works of J P
Singhal to join the advertising profession.
Pradeep Chandra, a close family friend and author of best
selling book, “MF Hussain – A Pictorial Tribute” feels J P Singhal never
promoted his works as much as he should have. “He was the highest paid painter
of his time. Unlike others, he did not need to exhibit his works as they were
purchased even before they were completed. One big fallout of this was that
when the art market boomed; and Husain and Souza paintings became hot commodities,
J P’s painting continued to remain private and out of sight from the art market.
But with the family exhibiting the works after his demise, the art world is
suddenly in a tizzy and galleries have started scouting
for his original paintings,” adds Chandra.
In his
early phase J P Singhal was greatly influenced by the ‘wash technique’ in water
colours used by the artists of the Bengal school. “This genre of art was very
different from the contemporary style adopted by artists of that era. With
images that were realistic, distinct and clear, an overall look that was
well-finished with soft, smooth and gentle controlled brush strokes, were his
signature style paintings. Be it mythological themes, Indian beauties, film
stars or rural folk, he evolved a style that was acclaimed by both the popular
and critical audiences,” concludes Dinesh Singhal, Director, J P Singhal Foundation.
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