Jarnail Singh, a famous Sikh artist of Canada was born in 1956 at Zeera, Punjab. His father S. Kirpal Singh
was a renowned painter, famous for his paintings of Sikh history. He was well known as the founder artist
of the Central Sikh Museum at Sri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar; Guru Tegh Bahadur Museum, Anandpur
Sahib; Anglo Sikh War Memorial, Ferozeshah , Punjab; and S. Bhaghel Singh Museum at Gurudwara Bangla
Sahib, Delhi in India. Thus, Jarnail Singh bring brought up in artistic atmosphere developed an interest in
art from his childhood. Whereas, his father made religious paintings, he chose Punjabi Culture, customs and
traditions as his subject. So, we have in his painting Punjab women spinning cotton, grinding corn, doing
embroidery, carrying water from the well in earthen and copper pots etc. According to him he has tried
to preserve traditional Punjabi way of life which was gradually vanishing. In some of his paintings, he has
shown struggle and sacrifice of the Sikh people. Many of his paintings can be found in private and public
collections in India, United Kingdom, Canada, United States and Australia. His painting entitled ‘Trinjan’
was commissioned by the Punjab Government and now hangs in the Indian Consulate at Washington,
DC. Over the years, in 2000, he moved to Surry, Canada. The big project, he started in Canada was in the
form of murals showing the history of Sikh faith during the period of ten Gurus. According to him “This
is the first time the Sikh history is painted in mural form in the great tradition of biblical paintings done
by Michelangelo in Sistine Chapel in Rome. This mural project was conceived and designed with a view to
depict the story of Sikhism from the time of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, and Founder of the Sikh Faith
to the last Guru Gobind Singh. The mural has paintings of landmark events from the period of each Guru
and their contributions to the development of the Sikh faith. The first part was inaugurated on Baisakhi
2003.” He has also made paintings of Indo-Canadian history depicting such incidents as that of Kama Gata
Maru. He has organized various exhibitions in India and abroad to showcase his artistic creations. His works
have also been published in Calendars, greeting cards and open edition prints and the same have elicited
huge appreciation. He has also illustrated a number of books and magazine covers. S. Jarnail Singh is also
an excellent photographer and his photographs have appeared in the Tribune Group, Daily Ajit, Indian
express, Indo Canadian Times, Des Pardes U.K., Punjab Times U.K., and many more publications. He has
written about 50 articles about art and culture which have appeared in the Tribune Group of Publiations,
The Ajit Daily, Drishtikon, and Mehram Publications. He has authored a book “Punjabi Chitarkar” (Punjabi
Painters) in Punjabi, which has been published by Punjab State University Text Book Board, India. In
recognition of his contribution to the society, his biography is included in school text book in his home
state, Punjab in India. He has been honored by many organizations.
