PAUL SARRUT (1882-1969) "CHATTAR SINGH Graphite drawing on paper, titled "Chattar Singh 52nd Sikhs F.F.", signed, dated "5.3.1915" and located "Calonne sur la Lys", lower right. (Rousseurs). DIM. (VIEW) 24,5 X 18,5 CM (9 5/8 X 7 1/4 IN.) This painter from the Cévennes was a pupil of Léon Bonnat and Luc-Olivier Merson. Thanks to his knowledge of English, he became a liaison officer for British and American troops during the First World War. Between 1914 and 1915, he was the interpreter for the Lahore Division, and thus had access to the Indian camps based on the Western Front. He produced many portraits of Sikh soldiers and camp interiors. His meticulously detailed drawings and oil paintings are an invaluable record of the presence of these Indian combatants. Seventy of his drawings are reproduced in the book "British and Indian troops in Northern France, Paul Sarrut 1914-1915", Éditions Delépine, Arras.