On this day
Paramjit Singh, born in 1935 in Amritsar, has crafted a six-decade career as one of India’s foremost landscape painters, blending realism, abstraction, and mysticism in luminous depictions of nature. Influenced by his Punjab roots and modernist techniques, he evolved from early figuration to transcendent visions of hills, trees, and skies, often capturing what he calls “the sounds of silence.”
Early Life and Education
Growing up in Amritsar amid natural surroundings and accessing art books at Khalsa College library shaped Singh’s affinity for landscapes. He studied at Delhi Polytechnic, earning a diploma in 1958 and later a PhD in Fine Arts by 1962. In 1973, he traveled to Norway for printmaking at Atelier Nord, broadening his technical repertoire.
Artistic Evolution
Singh’s oeuvre unfolds in three phases: his student years focused on realistic landscapes, portraits, and figures; a middle period explored still lifes alongside nature; mature works experimented with color, light, and abstraction in rugged terrains. Superb brushstrokes create luminosity and texture, drawing from Impressionist light handling and Expressionist color, while evoking Italian metafisica’s mystery—transformed into a personal, meditative Indian vision.
A founding member of Delhi’s avant-garde group The Unknown in 1960, Singh debuted solo at Triveni Kala Sangam in 1967. He taught for 29 years at Jamia Millia Islamia’s Fine Arts Department, retiring as professor and head in 1992. Key awards include the Lalit Kala Akademi National Award in 1970 and Sahitya Parishad Sanman.
Personal Life and Legacy
Married to renowned painter Arpita Singh, with whom he shares artist daughter Anjum Singh, Paramjit lives and works in New Delhi. His works grace collections like the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bharat Bhavan, and corporate holdings from Tata and Air India. Documentaries like The Seventh Walk (2013) explore his charcoal drawings, cementing his influence on generations through imagined, boundless landscapes that transcend mere illustration
Cover image: Untitled, 2013 | Oil on canvas
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
