At The Temple Door

Sobha Singh's painting At The Temple Door dates from 1934 and falls within the early phase of his career. The title indicates that the scene is set in a religious type of building and implies that it depicts a moment taking place at the entrance or at the threshold of a temple. Since it is not one of the iconic depictions of the Sikh Gurus that Singh produced in his later years, the painting is part of his wider collection of figurative works. It is therefore important mainly because it shows the variety of subjects that Sobha Singh dealt with before he became especially famous for his devotional paintings of Sikh religious figures. The painting is in oil on canvas, a medium which allowed Singh to achieve detailed modelling, tonal variation and a disciplined academic method in depicting the figure. The vertical format of the painting, with dimensions 89 × 52.5 cm, gives the composition a relatively narrow and elongated appearance. Moreover, the original wooden frame is mentioned in the catalogue and thus gives information regarding the physical appearance of the artwork. The painting At The Temple Door is especially useful for examining Sobha Singh's early artistic career since it was created before the period during which he became most widely known. It was later put up for sale at Bonhams in London on 12 June 2001 and was listed in the catalogue as a work by Sardar Sobha Singh. The Tuli Research Centre keeps this auction record as part of its art database specialised in India.