Fritz Munich (German, 20th Century)
Maharajah Yadavindra Singh of Patiala (reg. 1938-47)
oil on canvas, signed and dated 1936 lower left
255 x 133.5 cm.
Footnotes:
Fritz Munich was a German artist who visited and worked in princely states in Rajasthan and the Punjab between 1932 and 1937. His works still hang in the palaces of various rulers, including Udaipur and Kapurthala. When the Second World War began he returned to Germany where he was forced under duress to paint portraits of Nazi officers.

The painting of Maharajah Yadavindra Singh was completed in 1936, a fine full-length oil on canvas, depicting the 6 foot 7 inch tall prince. Munich worked at Patiala for some time, and photographs are in existence showing him working, palette and brush in hand, with the painting standing behind him. Another photograph shows the Maharajah himself standing (in full dress) next to the portrait.

Fritz Munich followed in the footsteps of another German artist, Archibald Herman Muller (1878-1952). Muller trained at the Madras School of Art, but by 1910 had moved to Bombay, and in 1911 won the Bombay Art Society Award. In 1922 he took up employment (largely out of poverty) with the Maharajah of Bikaner, ostensibly to record the ruler's hunting expeditions, specialising in paintings of tigers, work which did not agree with Muller.

Maharajah Yadavindra Singh (1914-74) was successor to Maharajah Bhupinder Singh. He served in the Patiala State Police (becoming its Inspector-General), and served abroad during World War Two. He played in one Test Match against England in 1934. He was India's ambassador to Italy and then the Netherlands in the 1960s and 1970s. For a photograph of him, dated circa 1938, in the John Fasal Collection, see A. Jackson, A. Jaffer (edd.), Maharaja: the Splendour of India's Royal Courts, London 2009, p. 226-227, no. 196.