Lucknow: Marking the 112th birth anniversary of renowned artist and one of the leading exponents of the Bengal School of Art, Professor Sukhveer Singhal (1914–2006), the Sukhveer Singhal Art Foundation launched the Sukhveer Singhal Digital Archive, a comprehensive online repository dedicated to preserving his artistic legacy and documenting India’s twentieth-century art history.
The digital archive was inaugurated at the State Lalit Kala Academy in Lucknow by Girish Kumar Mishra, Vice Chairman of the State Lalit Kala Academy, in the presence of former Chairman Sitaram Kashyap, Academy Director Shraddha Shukla, Sukhveer Singhal Art Foundation Director Priyam Chandra, Rajesh Agrawal, Stuti Singhal, Ritam Chandra, Puneet, Bhupendra Asthana, Akhilesh Nigam, and several artists, scholars and art enthusiasts.
Speaking at the launch, Priyam Chandra described the archive as the culmination of years of research, documentation and conservation efforts. She said the initiative aims not only to preserve Professor Singhal’s artistic heritage but also to make historically significant archival material easily accessible to researchers, students and the general public. She expressed confidence that the archive would encourage fresh research into Indian art, art education and the history of twentieth-century Indian art.
Girish Kumar Mishra paid tribute to Professor Singhal, describing him as a distinguished artist whose creativity and dedication left a lasting mark on the Indian art world. He appreciated the efforts of Singhal’s granddaughter, Priyam Chandra, and the entire family for preserving and promoting his artistic legacy, enabling younger generations to draw inspiration from his work and ideas.
The digital archive represents a significant step towards documenting and preserving Professor Singhal’s artistic career, academic contributions and cultural legacy. The online platform brings together rare archival material spanning from the 1930s to the present, making it available through a single digital repository.
Among its collections are Professor Singhal’s paintings, exhibition catalogues, historic photographs, correspondence, publications, newspaper archives, certificates, institutional documents and other important primary source materials. Many of these records remained unpublished or were available only in limited circulation for decades and are now being presented publicly for the first time with their historical context.
The archive features several rare and historically significant documents, including the Tagore Gold Medal awarded by the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, in 1946; the rare 1943 Allahabad School of Arts Exhibition Catalogue; a historic letter from Lady Hallett concerning the activities of the Allahabad School of Arts during the Second World War; archival records relating to the establishment of Kala Bharati (Allahabad School of Arts) in 1938; a testimonial written by Professor Singhal’s mentor A.K. Haldar; and newly compiled research based on historical newspaper archives.
The research, documentation, curation, digitisation, design and development of the digital archive have been undertaken by Priyam Chandra following several years of sustained archival research and preservation work. The foundation said the archive has been developed as an authentic and evolving reference resource for scholars, students, museums, curators, art collectors, researchers and everyone interested in Indian art.
According to the foundation, the archive will remain a continuously expanding project, with new artworks, archival documents, correspondence, exhibition records, photographs, publications and research material being added periodically to ensure that Professor Sukhveer Singhal’s legacy remains accessible for future generations.
