Amar Singh (art dealer)

Kanwar Amar Jit Singh[1] (born 14 June 1989) is a British non-fungible token (NFT) art dealer and LGBT+ activist.[2][3]

Amar Singh
Born
Kanwar Amar Jit Singh

(1989-06-14) 14 June 1989
London, England, UK
EducationSt John's Beaumont School
Charterhouse School
Licensed Victuallers' School
Known forNFT art dealer

Education

Singh was educated at St John's Beaumont School, Charterhouse School and the Licensed Victuallers' School. Numerous articles have described Singh as a Harvard graduate.[4][3][5][6][7] Singh's 2019 profile in Forbes 30 Under 30 - Europe - Art & Culture, listed a Bachelor of Arts/Science from Harvard University,[8] however by May 2021, the educational section of his profile had been removed.[9]

Career

In 2016, Singh set up a feminist art gallery called Amar Gallery, in London.[10] The gallery exhibited the work of female artists and feminists including the Guerrilla Girls, Helen Frankenthaler, and Renee Cox.[11][12][13] Singh closed his North London gallery in April 2019 and the company was dissolved in October 2021.[1]

In 2019, Singh had stated his next venture, set to open October 2019, was Curated Golden Square, described as a "$100 million, 30,000 square foot apartment hotel".[14][13] In a 2021 follow up interview with Vanity Fair, Singh claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was the reason the venture did not move forward.[15] The site in question, 37 Golden Square, is a collection of 23 apartments developed by Halamar in 2019.[16]

In November 2021, Artnet claimed that the value of Singh's NFT deals was in excess of $300 million.[17] Business Insider claimed that Singh's NFT art gallery booked $9.8 million in revenue in 2021.[18] In February 2022, Vanity Fair claimed that Singh had secured $500 million of NFT deals in the prior 12 months, and was on track to secure $1 billion in NFT deals by 2024.[19] In June 2022, PinkNews claimed that Singh's wholly owned NFT studio was worth over $150 million, without naming specific business entities.[20]

Philanthropy

In 2021, Singh pledged to donate $5 million worth of art by female, LGBTQ and minority artists to museums worldwide by 2025.[21][22] In January 2021, Singh donated a painting worth six figures celebrating women by the artist María Berrío to Los Angeles County Museum of Art,[21] and a portrait of inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to Harvard University's permanent collection, valued at £8,000.[23][21] Singh claims he reached $5 million of donations by July 2022.[24]

In June 2021, Singh partnered with Givenchy and VeVe to raise $128,000 for LGBT+ youth movement Le MAG Jeunes LGBT+, by collaborating with artists Rewind Collective and selling the first NFT created for a beauty brand.[25][26][27]

In 2022, he pledged to donate $1 million over two years to non-governmental organization Vital Voices.[28]

He is a patron of the Tate, Serpentine Galleries and Whitechapel Gallery, and a member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art collectors committee.[29]

Activism

Singh has worked alongside the LGBT+ community in India to fight for equal rights, and through his gallery also mounted LGBT+ exhibitions including Links by artist Howard Tangye and Section 377, an online exhibition celebrating the road to India legalising homosexuality. Alongside Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil and other LGBT+ activists, Singh has called for the Indian government to strike down Section 377,[2] legalise same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption, and ban LGBT conversion therapy practices.[2][10]

In July 2019 Singh spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute's Annual Future Leaders Conference, held at the Russell Senate Office Building, about women's rights and how communities are impacted through art and culture.[21][30]

Ancestry

Singh is a descendant of Raja Nihal Singh of Kapurthala.[31] In 2017, Singh was 16th in line to the former throne of Kapurthala,[4] one of 565 princely states which existed during the British Raj, and which was abolished in 1947 following Indian independence.

A 2017 Los Angeles Blade article incorrectly reported that Indian politician Vishvjit Singh was Singh's paternal uncle;[3] Vishvjit was in fact Singh's paternal grandfather's nephew.[32] A 2022 Esquire interview with Singh contained the incorrect assertion that Indian Health Minister Amrit Kaur was Singh's grandmother;[24] Kaur never married and died without children.[33]

References
  1. "AMAR GALLERY PRIVATE LIMITED". Companies House. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  2. Bullock, Andrew (10 August 2020). "Amar Singh: "I don't know why we have to fight so hard for equal rights!"". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. Ocamb, Karen (30 November 2017). "Indian Royal Amar Singh on a mission for equality". Los Angeles Blade. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  4. "Meet the 27-year-old Indian royal who just opened the hottest gallery in London". Elle (India). Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. "ARDENT AESTHETE: IN CONVERSATION WITH AMAR SINGH". Verve (Indian magazine). Retrieved 11 February 2023.(subscription required)
  6. "Section 377: What Indian Royals Want You To Know About LGBTQ Equality, Two Years After Decriminalisation". Forbes. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  7. "Royal rebel Amar Singh champions the cause of LGBTQ community & 'conversion therapy'!". Dainik Bharat. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  8. "Amar Singh". Forbes. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  9. "Amar Singh". Forbes. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  10. Oppenheim, Maya (12 February 2018). "India's only openly gay prince is turning his pink palace into a centre for vulnerable LGBT+ people". The Independent. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  11. Hawgood, Alex (3 October 2017). "The Indian Prince Who Supports Gay Rights and the Arts (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. Hawgood, Alex (3 October 2017). "The Indian Prince Who Supports Gay Rights and the Arts (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. Bullock, Andrew (19 June 2019). "Amar Singh's Curated Quest for Equality". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  14. Baker, Sam (29 June 2019). "The (Male) Art Entrepreneur Exhibiting Female Artists". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  15. "The Art of Amar Singh's Activism". Vanity Fair. 9 February 2021.
  16. "37 Golden Square". Buildington. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  17. "Meet Amar Singh, the Activist Art Gallerist Who Went From Dealing in Abstract Expressionism to $300 Million Worth of NFTs". Artnet. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  18. "How Businesses Can Use NFTs to Boost Sales and Partner With Brands". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 June 2022.(subscription required)
  19. "Billion Dollar Boom: NFT Rainmakers". Vanity Fair. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  20. "Indian royal Amar Singh on crusade to ban conversion therapy and what he'd say to Liz Truss". PinkNews. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  21. Bullock, Andrew (9 February 2021). "The Art of Amar Singh's Activism". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  22. "A tale of Churchill, Roosevelt — and Angelina Jolie". Financial Times.
  23. Onwuamaegbu, Natachi. "'This work must be in an institution.' Amanda Gorman portrait gifted to Harvard - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
  24. "NFT Art Pioneer's Ambitious Push for Change". Esquire. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  25. "Givenchy Beauty - Official site | Fragrance, make-up and skincare".
  26. "Givenchy Parfums Creates NFT Artwork to Profit LGBTQ Cause". 22 June 2021.
  27. "The Rise and Rise of NFT Artworks". Vanity Fair. 27 July 2021.
  28. "REMEMBER US XXI (NFT ARTWORK) EXHIBIT, POWERED BY AMAR SINGH". Vital Voices. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  29. "Amar Singh: Breaking The Glass Ceiling". storiyaan.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  30. "CHLI Conference Connects Future Leaders to the Real World". Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
  31. "Why This 31-Year-Old Gallerist Is Partnering With Christie's To Auction NFTs". Forbes. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  32. "KAPURTHALA". sikh heritage. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  33. Roychowdhury, Adrija (24 January 2018). "Amrit Kaur: The princess turned Gandhian who fought Nehru on women's political participation". The Indian Express. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
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