Sardar Ganda Thakur Singh

S. G. Thakur Singh was an Indian artist who painted in oils, pastels and water colour. He was born in the tiny farm village of Verka, four miles Northeast of Amritsar, Punjab, India. He received some art training from Mohammed Alam, the Muslim school teacher in the village. He moved to Mumbai and then Kolkata, where he worked for several theatrical companies and gained recognition for his paintings. He was influenced by the Bengal School of Art and painted seductive portraits of women, landscapes and scenes from Indian mythology and history. He also worked for the rulers of Indian princely states on commissions and published his paintings in books such as The Art of S. G. Thakur Singh and Glimpses of India. He founded the Thakur Singh School of Art in Amritsar in 1931 and remained the president of the Indian Academy of Fine Arts till his death in 1976. He received many awards and honors for his work, including the Padma Shri in 1973. He was praised by eminent personalities such as Rabindranath Tagore, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Jawaharlal Nehru.