San Francisco, September 25, 1999
Grand Exhibition Of Sikh Art Opens
Dr Narinder Singh Kapany's family owned several magnificent
manuscripts depicting the life of Guru Nanak, he did
not seriously start collecting Sikh art till the 1980s.
"Suddenly I started seeing Sikh art sold at
Southeby's and Christie's," said Kapany, known
as the father of fiber optics, as he discussed how
he developed an active interest in Sikh art.
"I frantically started buying Sikh art."
Some paintings and other historic objects that Kapany
donated to the Asian Art Museum are on display here
in an exhibition called 'The Arts of the Sikh Kingdom'.
In all, he gave nearly 100 objects. Another highlight
of the Kapany Collection is a series of 41 paintings
illustrating a Janam Sakhi manuscript that tells the
life story of Guru Nanak.
Recently Kapany gave $ 500,000 to The New Asian Art
Museum that is under construction here. One of the
Indian galleries in the new museum will be named after
his wife, Satinder Kaur Kapany. Including Dr. Kapany's
gift, the New Asian Art Museum Project has secured
over $ 110 million of its $ 150 million goal. It is
expected to open in 2001.
The current exhibition, which focuses mostly on the
times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, came to San Francisco
after a successful stint at Victoria and Albert Museum
in London.
