Sikh art

[3][4][2] Naqqash artists were employed to illuminate Perso-Arabic manuscripts, ornamentation of addresses, letter heads, nikah-namahs (marriage certificates), idis, janam patris (horoscopes) and other kinds of records, and the embellishment of calligraphy.

[16] Prior to the reign of Ranjit Singh, artists from the Chughtai family dominated the local Punjabi art-scene, as they had been attached to the Mughal court for quite some time going back generations.

[21] In 1838–39, a British visitor hired local Punjabi artists to produce pictures covering the various kinds of inhabitants of northern India using British-supplied paper and bound into an album.

The painter of Shere Singh was, therefore, incessantly occupied in sketching with a black lead pencil those likenesses which were afterwards to be copied in water colours, in order that they might adorn the walls of the royal palace; and some were admirably executed.

[5] The issued Hukamnamas (edicts) and signed Nishans (signature of a Sikh guru by scribing the Mul Mantar) of the human guru-period contained illuminations and illustrations with both geometric and floral motifs.

[5] A Lahori painter by the name of Allah Bakhsh painted based on themes from the life of Krishna, incorporating mystical motifs, aesthetically pleasing colour selection, and fine craftsmanship.

[5] Some European artists would work within the Sikh state and shortly after its annexation into the Company Raj include August Theodore Schoefft, Emily Eden, Baron Hugel, Helen, and William Carpenter.

[11] August Schoefft introduced the method of large-sized, oil painting to the Punjabi landscape, which led to slight influences on this works produced in this final period of Sikh rule.

[5] Emily Eden, another European artist, had also travelled to the Punjab during the height of the Sikh Empire and created works depicting many of the people and places she witnessed on her journey.

[5] Amid the murals based on profane subjects, depictions of scenes from traditional Punjabi folklore are commonplace, such as Heer Ranjha, Mirza Sahiban, Sohni Mahiwal, Sassi Pannu, Laila Majnun, Raja Rasalu, and more.

General Paolo Avitabile had his private residence quarters decorated with figures of scantily clad dancing girls and Indic deities in the act of making love.

[44] At the Rani Mahal of erstwhile Nabha State, there are wall paintings of couples having sex in various positions, settings, and emotions based upon the Koka Shastra treatise.

[5] Names of some prominent figures who helped start and develop the Sikh mohrakashi school includes Din Mohammad, Jawahar Latuni, Dacha, Sharaf-ud-Din, Malha Ram, and others.

[47] Up til 2013, the authorities overseeing the Golden Temple were ignorant about treating the frescoes, restoring them to their original state, nor preserving them but instead opted to repaintings and overpaintings for the most part.

[5] During the height of the Amritsari mural art tradition, there existed a street in the city known as Gali Naquas, where Sikh naqqash artists specializing in mohrakashi lived.

[47] The plaster was composed of slaked lime and sand was pressed into the joints of the wall and forged all throughout with a long-strip of wood (garmala) edgeways till it is slightly desiccated and plain.

[50] Usage of brass for artistic crafts were most popular in Rewari, Jagadhri, Amritsar, Jandiala, Phagwara, Gujranwala, Pindi Dadan Khan and Kangra in the late 19th century.

[50] This style of art declined once devotees started displaying their donations in the form of marble slabs being affixed to edifices instead of elaborate, expensive, and decorated gilded panels in the 20th century.

[50] A few expert craftsmen from as little as three or four families, from the Thathera community, remain in Amritsar who have passed down the know-how on how to execute this art form of metal reliefs, though younger generations are not interested in learning the trade.

[42] The jaratkari marble panels in this lower exterior section is classified as pietra dura and semi-precious stones, like lapis lazuli and onyx, were utilized.

[28] Whilst the early history of the art of photography in the Punjab is shrouded in mystery, the first photographs taken of Sikhs of whom the identity of the lensman is known were snapped by John McCosh, a British military surgeon employed by the East India Company who had been stationed at Firozpur.

[54] In 1848, McCosh snapped a portrait photograph of the then reigning 10-year-old child monarch, Maharaja Duleep Singh of the Sikh Empire, seated on a chair in a profile pose.

[17] One of the earliest photographers of the Golden Temple in Amritsar was a man by the name of Charles Waterloo Hutchinson, he clicked a photo of the site in 1856, seven years after the fall of the Sikh kingdom.

[54] Some specimens he portrayed in his photographic works include Akali-Nihangs, Sikh soldiers employed in the colonial military (such as in Hodson's Horse), and various views of the Golden Temple shrine and complex of Amritsar.

[54] Many priceless Sikh heritage sites (including their architecture and artwork) have been destroyed or altered beyond recognition under the guise of "kar seva" renovations by various institutions and groups in recent-times.

[57][58][59][60][61] An example of these haphazard and destructive renovations is an incident involving some of the frescoes at Gurdwara Baba Atal, which were replaced with bathroom tiles and plaster by kar seva groups.

The style is the same, but the techniques used have changed.”Kanwarjit Singh Kang is a documenter of Sikh art, who has amassed a vast collection of 40,000 photographs of Punjabi wall paintings he has taken throughout his career.

[67] Shahid Shabbir is a Pakistani who has documented countless Sikh heritage sites (most often neglected, dilapidated, or abandoned) located in his country, including their extant artwork and architecture.

[19] According to Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes, the lives of the painters who were active in Amritsar and Lahore during the 19th century are shrouded in mystery and unknown due to the lack of records and signed pieces, causing their biographies and productions to not be well-documented.

[74] Photographs taken by the following individuals and studios are kept in the collection: Maharaja Duleep Singh (1838–1893), Ernst Becker (1826–88), Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971), William Baker (died 1880), Samuel Bourne (1834–1912), Fred Bremner (1863–1942), James Craddock (fl.