ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GI&#256N SI&#7748GH BH&#256&#298 (1883-1953)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GIN,SIDGH,BH*,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279GI&#256N SI&#7748GH, BH&#256&#298 (1883-1953), <i>naqq&#257sh</i> or fresco-painter, was born in the city of Amritsar in 1883. His father, T&#257b&#257 Si&#7749gh, a comb-maker by profession, supplemented his meagre income by dispensing <i>&#257yurvedic</i>medicines in his spare time. At the age of five, Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh was sent to school run by Gi&#257n&#299 &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh, who later rose into prominence as a Sikh missionary and scholar. Gi&#257n&#299 &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh's influence on him was everlasting.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After he had passed his primary school, Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh was apprenticed to Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh Naqq&#257sh, a third generation descendant of Bh&#257&#299 Kehar Si&#7749gh Naqq&#257sh, who enjoyed court patronage under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh served his apprenticeship for 14 long years until the death of his mentor in 1905. He brought to his passion for drawing unusual powers of observation and concentration. He made rapid progress in his art and soon began to collaborate with Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh Naqq&#257sh, a brother of his erstwhile teacher, in working on ornamental designs in the Golden Temple.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh's fame will rest principally on his frescopainting on the walls of the Golden Temple. The art of frescopainting consists in transferring the outline <i><u>kh</u>&#257k&#257</i>) of a design on wet plaster and then filling the outline with appropriate colours before the plaster dries up. The basic colours thus established are worked with requisite details and light and shade achieved with dots and streaks. The colours used are indigenously prepared: red ochre from <i>hirmach&#299</i>, yellow ochre from <i>gulzard</i>, emerald green from <i>sa&#7749g-esabz</i>, lamp black from burnt coconut, ultra marine from <i>l&#257jvard</i> and white from burnt marble.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While much of Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh's work on the outer walls of the domed structure, on the topmost storey, stands partially erased by wind and rain, that on its inner walls yet survives in its original freshness. One <i>dehin</i> executed by him in the sanctum on the first floor, just above Har k&#299 Pau&#7771&#299, bears testimony to his inimitable workmanship. <i>Dehin</i>, the most fascinating item of frescopainting was Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh's forte. It is an imaginative ensemble of forms taken by the artist from animal or vegetable life, so curiously intertwined as to present a composite and organized whole. Structurally, <i>dehin</i> has three parts -- a pedestal, a vase poised on the pedestal and a bouquet of flowers or a floral bush called <i>jh&#257&#7771</i>. On the pedestal are depicted birds or animals in various dramatic postures -- in erotic clasp, in combat or one chasing the other. These figures are often intertwined with creepers.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The other items of note in frescopainting are floral "square" (<i>murrab&#257</i>) and "rectangle" (till&#299). These are used in wall, floor or ceiling decoration. The square usually consists of a fine setting of flowers, leaves, creepers or bushes within a flowery border with handsomely patterned corners. A typical example of a square done by Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh is the one called Acquatic Harmony. It takes for its <i>motif</i> a number of fish encircling a tortoise, with others frolicking around the first set in a circular rhythm.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh introduced a number of innovations in the art of frescopainting. His predecessors in the Sikh school of art depicted gods and goddesses in the body of the pedestal in the manner of their Persian or Mu<u>gh</u>al forerunners. But Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh replaced these <i>motifs</i> with those of "grapples" (<i>pak&#7771&#257&#7749</i>) of animals, birds, flowers, creepers, etc. He also painted historical Sikh shrines on the body of the vase formerly left blank. In addition to this, he brought shade work to a high standard of perfection and gave a poetic touch to his compositions by making them rhythmically balanced and elegant. The colours he used were always bright and attractive.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Apart from frescopainting Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh tried his hand at several allied arts such as (<i>gach</i>) stucco work, (<i>ja&#7771atk&#257r&#299</i>) mosaic work and (<i>&#7789uk&#7771&#299</i>) cutglass work. He was an expert in <i>gach</i> work which consists in carving embossed designs on partially wet layers of plaster of Paris and afterwards, when completely dry, covering it with gold leaves with an undercoat of varnish. Verses from the <i>Japu(j&#299)</i> have been rendered in this style under the arches leading to the sanctum in the Golden Temple. Another type of work popularly known as, <i>&#7789uk&#7771&#299</i> work, much in vogue in Mu<u>gh</u>al days, consists in setting pieces of glass, gold leaves or precious stones in <i>gach</i> work in artistic patterns. The <i>&#7789uk&#7771&#299</i> work on the inside of the dome in the central sanctum of the Golden Temple executed in its entirety by Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, bears witness to his sense of design and his patience and assiduity.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh not only prepared designs for Ja&#7771atk&#257r&#299 (<i>mosaic</i>) work in marble to be executed by craftsmen from Delhi and R&#257j&#257sth&#257n, but also selected stones of appropriate colour and grain to be laid in the marble. The mosaic designs were based on colourful representations of flora and fauna or on themes picked from Hindu mythology.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh was a master of free-hand drawing. His pencil kept pace with the abundance of designs and ideas which flowed from his fertile mind as some of his published works like <i>Nik&#257sh&#299 Darpan, Vishkarm&#257 Darpan, Nik&#257sh&#299 Art Sikhy&#257</i> and <i>T&#257j-e-Zargar&#299</i>, indicate.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the <i>Nik&#257sh&#299 Darpan</i> (1924), he has drawn stylized forms of various flowers side by side with their natural forms, showing how the latter could be improved upon for the purpose of adjustment in a design. It also contains line work studies of birds and animals, different limbs and organs of the human body, border designs in rectangular, square, half patterns, allover patterns and vase stands composed of rhythmically intertwined animal, bird and plant forms. The <i>Vishkarm&#257 Darpan</i> (1926) is a profusely illustrated manual of decorative, architectural and furniture designs. The <i>T&#257j-e-Zargar&#299</i> (Vol. I, 1920, and Vol II, 1930) contains 1539 designs of Indian ornaments. The <i>Nik&#257sh&#299 Art Sikhy&#257</i> (1942) contains scores of sketches designed to initiate a beginner into the intricacies of drawing. </p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While toiling at larger works, Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh found time for painting easel pictures in which he could freely indulge his humour. Some of his canvases are notable for their originality of conception and workmanship. His painting Types of Irreligion, which illustrates a well-known couplet of Kab&#299r, is a biting satire on charlatans who dupe the naive and the gullible in the name of religion. The Eternal Strife, based on a mythological theme, represents the forces of Good (<i>suras</i>) locked in mortal combat with those of Evil (<i>asuras</i>). The Elephant Fight allegorizes M&#257y&#257 and its victims. It depicts two male elephants (victims) contending fiercely for the prize -- M&#257y&#257 in the form of a female elephant who, standing at a distance, contemplates the fight with sadistic mirth.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In appreciation of Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh's exquisite work in the Golden Temple, he was presented, in 1949, with a robe of honour by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; During his apprenticeship, Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh had prepared a set of paintings on the Ten Sikh Gur&#363s which was printed in Germany. It became very popular.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh died in 1953. Another famous Amritsar artist, G.S.Sohan Si&#7749gh, was his son. His eldest son, Sundar Si&#7749gh, was killed in the Jalli&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> firing.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Arshi, P.S., <i>Sikh Architecture</i>. Delhi, 1986<BR> <li class="C1"> Madanjit Kaur, <i>The Golden Temple: Past and Present</i>. Amritsar, 1983<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Shamsher Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>