After the colonial period in the subcontinent, two new sovereign states based and divided on the basis of the two nation ideology and theory, would find their own way in every sense of the word. After nearly a century of fighting for freedom, both India and Pakistan gained their independence from the British Empire in 1947. However, the colonial era had acculturated South Asia in every way, from culture to tradition, from religion to ethics, from farming to transportation and from telecommunications to education.
British rule institutionalized various skills and arts in this part of the world. JJ School of Arts in Bombay (now Mumbai), while the Mayo School of Arts and the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Punjab were established in Lahore to promote the enchanting visual culture of the subcontinent.
The Department of Fine Arts was established under the umbrella of the University of Punjab Lahore in 1940 and Anna Molka Ahmed; a young British woman who, after marrying Sheikh Ahmed, emigrated and settled in Punjab, was selected as the first Head of the Department. Two other highly talented, educated, and capable women were also under consideration for this chair; Mary Roop Krishna and Razzia Serajuddin.
Today the Department of Fine Arts has earned the status of Faculty of Art and Design and offers different degrees in Painting, Design, Architecture and Art History. This institution has produced many artists of peerless class and worthy styles who have been bestowed with various awards of high reverence and reputation by the government of Pakistan.
Anna Molka Ahmed founded the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Punjab in 1940 and nurtured the first generation of Pakistani artists there. She assimilated Western painting techniques, learned during her education in London, with indigenous themes and ideas that shaped modern art in Pakistan. Her roles as artist, educator, and administrator remain unmatched.
He received the Tamgha-i Imtiaz in 1963, the Pride of Performance in 1979, and the Quaid-i Azam Award in 1982.
Khalid Iqbal is the father figure of contemporary landscape painting in Pakistan. Using his local palette and Western technique, learned at the Slade School in London, under the scholarship of Sir William Coldstream, he created a modern concept of time through the control of subtle shades of diffuse light and shadow. He is considered the father of modern realism in Pakistan who eventually shaped the modern school of landscape painting in Pakistan. Khalid’s style and his long years of teaching inspired many students to adopt this genre and evolve it over the years.
His role in the development of art in Pakistan was marked with a Pride of Performance in 1980.
Colin David was one of three students in the first class for men in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Punjab, along with Sufi Waqar and Aslam Minhas. His time at the Slade School of Art in London in 1973 gave a new impetus to his work. His figure compositions, combined with still life objects in a well-controlled space, create a surreal atmosphere. Colin’s work exhibits the knowledge of human anatomy that introduced Pakistani art to the mystery, style and balance of figurative painting. With his soft line, he elaborated figures in landscapes and interiors. Colin was awarded the Pride of Acting in 1995.
Shaukat Mahmood handles the lines; lines that speak and speak loudly, sarcastic and penetrating. After completing his Master of Fine Arts from the Department of Fine Arts, he obtained a Ph.D. in Islamic Architecture from the University of Edinburgh, UK. Currently, he is the Coordinator of the Research Center of the Faculty of Art and Design. When he joined a newspaper as a cartoonist, he came into interaction with the renowned Munir Niazi, who titled him Maxim. As Maxim the Cartoonist, he appears daily in a Lahore newspaper. As a social commentator, he has been commenting on very serious topics with his mischievous lines and outrageous characters.
AMaxim@ received the Pride of Performance in 2001 and Sitara-i Imtiaz in 2010.
AR Nagori was often labeled as a colorful painter with dark subjects. He was one of those who had been inspired by the changing social and political scene of our country. Nagori opened his eyes in the land of colors and thirst; Rajasthan. His art personified the desert due to the wide panoramic vision he always had, while his style was as colorful as a rainbow and as thirsty as sand. Nagori took his last breath in 2010.
He was awarded the Pride of Performance posthumously in 2011.
Zulqarnain Haider fell in love with landscapes the moment he started painting. Little by little, his style accepted the new challenges of Modern Realism regarding the study of light and its effects. His canvases show the true color and texture of the terrain that he painted over and over again. His work reflects different weather conditions and the change of seasons. Being a true student and follower of Khalid Iqbal, he continued the legacy of his mentor.
A graduate of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Punjab, Zulqarnain Haider also studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris, which nurtured his talent and skills.
Zulqarnain Haider was honored with the Pride of Performance in 2000.
Ghulam Rasul was obsessed with landscape painting which led him to examine nature from a different point of view. He earned his Masters in Painting from the Department of Fine Arts and after doing a Masters in Printmaking from Northern Illinois University, USA in 1973, he developed his own visual vocabulary by painting in flat colors; this technique ultimately resulted in modernizing his canvas by simplifying forms. At a time when depth of perspective was in vogue, Ghulam Rasul concentrated on building a relationship between composition and color palette.
In 1986, Ghulam Rasul was awarded the Pride of Acting.
Zubeda Javed, former chairperson of the Department of Fine Arts, is one of the first female painters in Pakistan to adopt a semi-abstract and impressionistic technique in landscape painting. She, with an intuitive color sense and painterly brush, produced a unique and aesthetically strong display of colors rising from deep backgrounds. Her painting style, based on imagination rather than realistic field observations, encouraged the modern approach to colour, composition and light in Pakistani art.
The Tamgha-i Imtiaz was awarded to him in 2003.
Khalid Mahmood earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Punjab, Lahore and then his Master of Art History from the University of Hawaii, USA. His research on the ‘Sikh murals of the Punjab’ earned him a Ph.D. from the University Punjabi. He has served as chair of the Department of Fine Arts. His people today are very indigenous in terms of subject matter, but modern styles of painting especially interest Impressionism, it has always been an inspiration for his technique. His art shows a fluid movement of the brush and the joy of colors.
Received the 2006 Pride of Performance.
Ajaz Anwar, who has a Ph.D. in Muslim architecture from Turkey, has visually documented Lahore’s culture, heritage and festivities in watercolour. He, with an intentional effort, tries to record the traditional architecture of the walled city of Lahore. The sky in his paintings is often dotted with the cool hues of variegated kites flying over the architectural labyrinths of the Old City. Ajaz Anwar merged his love for architecture and his passion for painting, in a way that has become his own signature style.
In 1997, he was awarded the Pride of Performance.
Mian Ijaz ul Hassan is a multi-subject painter. His interest and knowledge of English literature made him think and act in accordance with the new ideologies of the socio-political scene of Pakistan in the seventies. Figurative paintings by him were rooted in communist and socialist doctrines. However, he not only unearthed the fragile soil of his land, but also planted the seed of the yellow Laburnum (Amaltas) tree that flourishes in the most unfavorable conditions. His socio-political canvases, as well as his foliage paintings, exhibit vivid and pure colors.
In 1992, his contribution in the field of art was recognized with the Pride of Performance.
Hasan Shahnawaz Zaidi is an artist, poet, singer and above all a mentor who served as the director of the College of Art and Design. Commissioned portraits of national heroes have been his forte as a painter. He comments on sociohistorical themes that are also present in his poetry. Zaidi’s love of poetry and music has led to a rhythmic quality of line and warmth to his palette.
The Government of Pakistan honored him with the Tamgha-i Imtiaz in 1998. He was awarded Pride of Performance in 2013.
Rahat Navee Masud uses the female figure as a vehicle to express the ‘human condition’, seeking truth and spirituality in it. He is one of the leading exponents of the pastel medium in Pakistan and has developed a unique style of working with pastels and gold leaf, primarily on handmade paper. After earning an MA from the Department of Fine Art at the University of Punjab in Lahore, she did her MA in Art and Design in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Fine Art with Practice in 2010 from Kingston University London. She also served as the director of the College of Art and Design from 2009 to 2013.
Rahat Naveed was awarded Pride of Performance in 2012.
Jawed Iqbal, as a cartoonist with perseverance and commitment, has come up with a new image every day in a newspaper based in Lahore, Pakistan. For years, the people of Pakistan have watched Jawed Iqbal’s mischievous lines and playful skill, recording the socio-political life of the country. Also, he created numerous cartoons on live TV shows in Pakistan and abroad. A graduate of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Punjab, Jawed Iqbal has made a mark in the field of cartoons.
Jawed Iqbal received Pride of Performance in 1993.