Born in India in 1904, Margery “Sushila” Singh was a painter, printmaker and occasional ceramicist whose works trace a compelling evolution from surrealism into abstraction, always retaining an ethereal, dreamlike sensibility.
Her father, Bawa Dhanwant Singh QC, having retired to England, ensured she had access to the artistic education then often denied to girls in India. Sushila studied at Hornsey School of Art and subsequently at the Royal College of Art under William Rothenstein, graduating in 1929. During her time at Hornsey she met fellow student Arthur Henry Andrews, whom she later married in 1930.
In her early career, Singh’s work often showed surrealist influences - particularly in subject matter, form and composition - but over time she moved toward abstraction, exploring colour, light and form with increased freedom. Her later paintings are frequently characterised by a luminous palette, expressive handling of paint, and an atmosphere that hovers between representation and imagination.
Sushila Singh exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Britain and abroad. Her works have appeared in galleries such as the John Whibley Gallery, Grabowski Gallery, Heal’s Gallery, Mansard Galleries, as well as in Switzerland at Galerie Niklaus Knoll.
Public collections holding her work include the Atkinson Art Gallery, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, several UK hospitals through the Paintings in Hospitals scheme, and municipal or college collections throughout Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield and elsewhere.
She lived much of her later life in Bournemouth. Singh passed away in 1999, leaving a body of work that is increasingly appreciated for its subtle interplay of the surreal and the abstract, its poetic evocations of light and space, and its unique position bridging early 20th-century training and modern sensibility.
