The Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi is hosting a solo exhibition of Prof. Sukhvir Sanghal. Scheduled to run from 6–12 November 2025 at Gallery 1 & 2, 35 Ferozeshah Road (Mandi House), this exhibition is curated by his own granddaughter Priyam Chandra. The exhibition brings together some 45 paintings spanning Sanghal’s long career.
The Artist and His Legacy
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Prof. Sukhvir Sanghal (1914–2006) emerges as a major player in the twentieth-century story of Indian painting. Born in Muzaffarnagar in 1914, he received his formal training at the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow. His prime contributions lie in the Bengal School revivalists. Sanghal’s signature style is the wash technique.
The exhibition displays plethora of series that maps Sanghal’s artistic practice. The series include River of Life, Phases of Life, Marriage, Arjuna as an Ideal Man, Indian Life, Ramcharit, and Kashmir Landscapes. These series minutely traces his frequent use of the wash technique, and the i.e., using thin layers of translucent pigments that create a gentle atmosphere in the canvases referring to Indian narrative content and rasa theory. The collection also includes pictographic tales embroidered on khadi, watercolour on wood and silk, and experimental works in sculpture and leather.
In his illustrious career, and Sanghal earned numerous institutional Honours. His paintings like Thou Art Dust, Dust Returnest, etc., have entered a royal collection. Interestingly, Sanghal was commissioned (at Jawaharlal Nehru’s request) to design Indira Gandhi’s wedding invitation in the early 1940s. All these facts confide with the essence of why curators are still keen to revisit his work and exhibit those to the public specs.
| Exhibition | Details |
|---|---|
| Exhibition title | Museum on the Wheels |
| Artist | Prof. Sukhvir Sanghal (1914–2006) |
| Venue | Gallery 1 & 2, Lalit Kala Akademi, 35 Ferozeshah Road, Mandi House, New Delhi. |
| Curator | Priyam Chandra (granddaughter of the artist) |
| Dates & timings | 6–12 November 2025; 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM daily. |
| Curator & provenance | Curated by Priyam Chandra (granddaughter); works sourced from family holdings and institutional collections. |
| Historical importance | Practice connects Bengal School idioms with Japanese-influenced wash technique; teaching legacy at Kala Bharti and Lucknow. |
| Notable recognitions | National awards, regional retrospectives, and references to royal/official acquisitions. |
Key Highlights
- A rare nucleus of 45 paintings and tapestries tracing Sanghal’s thematic series and formal experiments.
- Prominent inclusion of khadi tapestries and wash paintings that demonstrate a sustained commitment to traditional materials and techniques.
- Curatorial framing by a family member (Priyam Chandra) that aims to situate the work both biographically and pedagogically.
- Inaugural presence of leading cultural figures and museum professionals—an indicator of renewed institutional interest in Sanghal’s oeuvre.
- Archival claims (royal acquisition, design commission) that add narrative weight but also invite closer provenance checks by scholars and curators.
Why this Matters?
Museum on the Wheels is an act of gentle reintroduction of Sanghal’s works at the intersection of Indian painting and the use of an impeccable wash technique that creates figures almost dissolved into mood rather than hard outline. His paintings brings textiles and gestures to life with nuanced observations and minute detailing executed with precision. Because the works often come in series, they function like short epics. There are small sequences that convey commentaries on social rites, morality and landscape. For viewers, who are used to the contemporary canvases, Sanghal’s works demand patience. His art affected the Bengal School in a profound manner and sought to synthesize the indigenous aesthetics with foreign techniques.
Takeaway
Museum on the Wheels imparts an important work by foregrounding craft, pedagogy and continuity. That said, the exhibition is expected to gain further scholarly clout if curators paired the family’s curation with a published catalogue that documents his works meticulously. For now, the exhibition offers an intimate encounter with an artist who turned patience into technique and storytelling into a visual ethic. Thus, this exhibition is definitely worth a visit.
