Wikipedia

Abdur Rahman Chughtai

Abdur Rahman Chughtai(21 September 1894 – 17 January 1975) was apainter,artist,and intellectual fromPakistan,who created his own unique, distinctive painting style influenced byMughalart, miniature painting,Art Nouveauand Islamic art traditions. He is considered to be 'the first significant modern Muslim artist from Pakistan',[2]and the national artist of Pakistan.[1]

Abdur Rahman Chughtai
عبد الرحمن چغتائی
PPHI
Born(1897-09-21)21 September 1897[1]
Lahore,Punjab,British India[1]
Died17 January 1975(1975-01-17)(aged 80)[1]
Lahore,Punjab,Pakistan[1]
NationalityPakistani
MovementChughtai style of painting
AwardsKhan Bahadur
Hilal-i-Imtiaz
Pride of Performance
Websitechughtaimuseum.com

He was given the title ofKhan Bahadurby theBritish Empirein British India in 1934, awarded Pakistan'sHilal-i-Imtiaz(Crescent of Excellence) Award in 1960, and thePride of PerformanceAward in 1958 by thePresident of Pakistan.[3]

Early life and career

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Chughtai was born on 21 September 1897 inLahore,now in Pakistan.[1][4]He was the second son of Karim Bukhsh, who belonged to a prominentPunjabi Muslimfamily of artists descending from generations of craftsmen, architects, and decorators.[5][6]Chughtai briefly learned naqqashi from his uncle Baba Miran Shah Naqqash at a local mosque.[4]After completing his education at the Railway Technical School, Lahore, in 1911, Chughtai joined theMayo School of Arts, Lahore(now calledNational College of Arts,Lahore), where Samarendranath Gupta, a pupil ofAbanindranath Tagorewas Vice-Principal. After leaving the school, he made a living for a while as a photographer and drawing teacher. He eventually became the head instructor inchromo-lithographyat the Mayo School.[7][6][8]

Letter of Chugtai to Bhai Vir Singh

In 1916, Chughtai's first painting in a revivalist 'oriental' style appeared in theModern Reviewmagazine. He had his first exhibition in 1920 at the Punjab Fine Art Society.[4]He also exhibited with the Indian School of Oriental Art during the 1920s, by which time he had become quite renowned. His work contributed greatly to Lahore's burgeoning modern art scene. While he predominantly worked with watercolors, Chughtai was also a print-maker, perfecting his etching skills in London during visits in the mid-1930s.[9]His sketches were used in many books in Punjabi poetry by Bhai Vir Singh for illustrating his famous poems like "Kambadi Kalai" and including his famous epic "Rana Surat Singh". Chughtai offered his gratitude to Bhai Vir Singh for becoming part of these illustrations as a young artist in his letter to him on 11.04.1929[10]

In his sixty years of artistic creation, Chughtai produced nearly 2000 watercolours, thousands of pencil sketches, and nearly 300 etchings and aquatints. He also wrote short stories, and articles on art. He designed stamps, coins, insignia and book covers. He was also an avid collector of miniatures and other art.[4]He published three books of his own work: theMuraqqai-i-Chughtai(1927),Naqsh-i-Chughtai(c. 1935) andCFqueenhughtai's Paintings(1940).[11]TheMuraqqa-i-Chughtaiwas a sumptuously illustrated edition of MirzaGhalib's Urdu poetry,[6]with a foreword by SirMuhammad Iqbal.It is regarded as the most significant work of Chughtai's career[2]and in its time, was considered the finest achievement in book production in the country. [12]

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Chughtai came to be regarded as one of the most famous representatives of Pakistan. Chughtai's paintings were given to visiting heads of stateAllama Iqbal,Pablo Picasso,Elizabeth IIwas amongst his admirers.

Chughtai's closest associate was his younger brother Abdullah Chughtai, a scholar and researcher of Islamic art.[2]Chughtai married twice, and had two children, a son and daughter. He died inLahoreon 17 January 1975.[4][1]

Art

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Chughtai's early watercolours take off from the revivalism of theBengal School of Art[6]– hisJahanara and the Taj,for instance, shows the influence of Abanindranath'sThe Last Moments of Shah Jahan.[7]By the 1940s, he had created his own style, strongly influenced by Islamic art traditions, but retaining a feel ofArt Nouveau.His subject matter was drawn from the legends, folklore and history of the Indo-Islamic world, as well as Punjab, Persia and the world of the Mughals.[1]

Abdur Rahman Chughtai also designed the logo for thePakistan Television Corporation(PTV) at the behest of its first general manager,Ubaidur Rahman.The logo has been tweaked and modified over the years since its inception but remains fundamentally the same. On Pakistan's independence day in 1951, he produced a set of 9 stamps, better known as 'Chughtai Art set'. At that time, this set was considered as the most beautiful stamps of the world.[8]

Artist and gallery ownerSalima Hashmideems Chughtai one ofSouth Asia's foremost painters. "He was part of the movement that started in the early part of the 20th century to establish an identity indigenous to the subcontinent", she said. "He rejected the hegemony of theBritish Colonialaesthetic ".[citation needed]

Painting exhibits

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Chughtai's works are owned by theBritish Museum,theVictoria and Albert Museum,theNational Gallery of Modern Art(New Delhi), thePeace Palace(inThe Hague),United Nations Headquarters,New York, the Kennedy Memorial inBoston,theUS State Department(inWashington, D.C.), President's HouseBonn,AP State Archaeology Museum,[13]

Queen Juliana's Palace inthe Netherlands,Emperor's PalaceBangkok,President HouseIslamabad,Governors' Houses inLahoreandKarachi,and theNational Art Gallery, Islamabad.[citation needed]Many of his works are at the Chughtai Museum Trust inLahore,Pakistan.

Works

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  • Maqalat-i Chughtaʾi.2 vols. Islamabad: Idarah-yi Saqafat-i Pakistan, 1987.
  • Lahaur ka dabistan-i musavviri.Lahore: Chughtai Museum Trust, 1979.
  • Chughtai’s Paintings.2nd ed. Lahore: Print Printo Press, 1970.
  • Amal-i Chughtaʾi: Poet of the EastLahore: Self-published, 1968.
  • Naqsh-i Chughtaʾi: Divan-i Ghalib Musavvir.Lahore: Ahsan Bradarz, 1962.
  • Chughtai’s Indian Paintings.New Delhi: Dhoomi Mal, 1951.
  • Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi.Lahore: Jahangir Book Club, 1927.[6][8]

Other works

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Among Chughtai's popularly known works are Hashim Shahbaz andRadio Pakistanand his painting ofAnarkalifor the cover of a 1992 drama. Additionally, one of the most successfulUNICEFcards features a Chughtai piece. He was also known for his designs ofpostage stamps.[14]United Nations Organizationart correspondent Jacob-Baal Teshuva wrote that Chughtai's paintings are the largest set released in 1948.[15]

Awards and recognition

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See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefgh"Profile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai - Pakistani Artist".Encyclopædia Britannica.Retrieved20 June2019.
  2. ^abcIftikhar Dadi (2010).Modernism and the art of Muslim South Asia.University of North Carolina Press.ISBN978-0-8078-3358-2.
  3. ^abcdProfile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai on Grosvenor Gallery websiteRetrieved 20 June 2019
  4. ^abcde"Profile at Chughtai Museum website".Chughtai Museum. Archived fromthe originalon 30 December 2010.Retrieved20 June2019.
  5. ^Srivastava, R. P. (1983).Punjab Painting.Abhinav Publications.ISBN978-81-7017-174-4.His ancestors were Lahori (Punjabi)...
  6. ^abcdeAbdul Rahman Chughtai - Traditional Painter from PakistanCaroun.com website, Retrieved 20 June 2019
  7. ^abPartha Mitter (1994).Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850–1922: Occidental Orientations.Cambridge University Press. p. 332.ISBN978-0-521-44354-8.
  8. ^abcProfile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai on artocraft.com websiteRetrieved 20 June 2019
  9. ^"Profile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai, 1897–1975".Charles Moore Fine Arts. 16 December 2011.Retrieved20 June2019.
  10. ^Abdul Rehman Chugtai's letter dated 11/04/1929 Lahore preserved in Bhai Vir Singh Memorial House, Amritsar
  11. ^Jonathan M. Bloom; Sheila Blair (2009).The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture.Oxford University Press. p. 489.ISBN978-0-19-530991-1.
  12. ^G. Venkatachalam (1948).Contemporary Indian Painters.
  13. ^"Andhra Pradesh State Archaeology Museum".Archived fromthe originalon 15 February 2012.Retrieved20 June2019.
  14. ^NCA and Stamp Design, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, 2000 p. 5
  15. ^Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka,Stanley GibbonsLimited, London, UK 2005 1st edition p. 18
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