His persona is reclusive, elusive, almost solitary and his work – it is exclusive, abstruse and almost rarefied. Jamil Naqsh, an enigmatic artist, lives his life on his own terms, calls his own shots, does exactly what he wants to do and in doing so maintains his position as one of Pakistan's leading artists.

A brilliant contemporary painter, his success story is an amalgam of immense talent, creativity, labour, single-mindedness and of course strategy. The Naqsh mystique has been engineered and it is very much there. A ploy it may be but it is a charming one at that, for it adds that something extra to his artistic genius, shifting his work to a much higher plane.  

Jamil Naqsh Picture Gallery

This success story unfolded in the peaceable, romantic environs of distant Kairana in the U.P. Province of India, where the young artist was born in 1939, in a cultured Muslim zamindar family. Young Jamil was nurtured in a climate of creativity, where artistic, musical and literary pursuits were freely practiced. His childhood memories are entwined amidst family pets – horses, cats, pigeons and a favourite goat – kite flying, chess, shikaar, Persian and Urdu poetry, classical music together with prayers and fasting. At the age of nine, in 1947, the trauma of displacement that came with partition hit the growing child harder than most others. Having lost his mother when he was five, Jamil migrated to Pakistan with his elder siblings, but his father remained behind – never to meet again.

Bereft of parental moorings, unsettled Jamil trekked back home in his early teens, perhaps to recapture a lost childhood – but it was not to be. For two years he journeyed through Chittagong to Calcutta, Khatmandu to Colombo, Peshawar to Karachi. In 1953 his journey ended in Lahore, where he joined the Mayo School of Arts & Crafts.  

As a student of Mayo, the young Jamil got his first taste of modern art. Pioneer modernist Shakir Ali had just arrived in Lahore after his sojourn abroad. His concepts on rudiments of contemporary art were a breath of fresh air for the young artists in the making, Jamil Naqsh including. However, keeping in mind the traditional ambience of Kairana, the artist’s childhood home, his love for the classical and the oriental in arts was a very natural preference. At the Mayo school he was introduced to the art of miniature painting courtesy, the renowned Ustad Haji Sheriff. Soon Jamil Naqsh abandoned his study courses at Mayo to work full time with Ustad Sheriff. Thus began his grounding in this discipline. Working from morning to dusk he imbibed technique, methodology, and unique intricacies peculiar to Mughal miniature painting. At this juncture, developments in modern art in Pakistan were rapid, popular and eagerly accepted. The synthesis of abstraction and finesse of miniature apparent in Jamil's work now probably had its origin in that early educative phase when he was learning in a climate of twin exposures. Album painting and non-objective art are mutually contradictory but Jamil Naqsh borrowed the best of both to create his own aesthetic vocabulary, which then became his signature style.

As early as 1959, barely twenty-one years old, Jamil Naqsh entered the exhibition circuit and displayed his work at the newly built Karachi Arts Council. Solo exhibitions followed between 1960-63. This is also the time when his celebrated pigeons first emerged on the canvas and with them came the flutter of recognition, popularity and success. By the end of the 60's Naqsh had ceased to paint for exhibitions. He was by then highly regarded with a growing number of collectors eager to buy his work. The artist remained in self-exile for the next 30 years devoting himself entirely to his work. His output was prolific but more importantly, it was growth and development in his work that was largely responsible for the status he enjoys today. This long hiatus came to an end in 1989 when some significant exhibitions were mounted in Karachi and Islamabad - namely “Mother & Child” “Modern Manuscripts”, and a homage to sculptor Marino Marini. On 28th Feb, 1999, the Jamil Naqsh Museum in its initial stage, was inaugurated in a gallery adjacent to the Momart Gallery, under the auspices of ‘Friends of Jamil Naqsh Museum Trust’. In an unprecedented act, Naqsh donated one thousand paintings to the trust set up to preserve his work for the nation. These paintings are museum assets meant to be displayed in batches of 80 at a time as the present premises have limited viewing space. After an eventful first showing the second was held recently on Feb 18th, 2001.

For purposes of serious evaluation treatises can be written on various aspects of Naqsh's work such is the weightage of his aesthetic prowess. However, even a brief scan of his growth as a painter, his muse, his style, approach and themes reveals some very obvious components of his work. He was and remains essentially a figurative painter – painting the female nude consistently right from the beginning. In the early years the nude was long-necked, a la Modigilani, sharp clawed, flat chested and grimfaced with large soulful eyes. Abstraction was evoked on the canvas surface by impasto strokeplay in colour application and fragmentation of space. Textural nuances with clever use of the palette knife were a dominating feature as was the distorted figuration. The emblematic pigeons swooped, fluttered and cooed into his compositions bringing with them an aura of romance, lyricism and harmony. They softened the harsh abrasive terrain of his paintings and for years to come were motifs of the Naqsh mystique. Inspired by Marino Marini a celebrated sculptor of the 20th century Jamil next initiated his 'Horse and Nude' series which diversified his imagery into another realm altogether. He probably executed his most erotic pieces during this period as his paintings were charged with fusion, harmony and wholeness. The horse was a symbolic emblem of the male presence which encompassed, enslaved and accompanied the nude in a variety of mannerisms. There are some virtuoso pieces in the “Mother & Child” theme also in which a child accompanies the nude, a variant to his usual symbols. Here the bonding is maternal. Thematic changes have enabled him to present the nude in a variety of posture and modulations. From the distorted, exaggerated even shocking image of the early 60's, the nude has undergone considerable change. Today the humanized version varies between soft, supple and superbly realistic to semi-abstract. Jamil's nudes are not confrontational they do not accost or titillate the viewer, theirs is a sombre-faced passivity. The artist focuses on their structural forms and corporeal masses which is given painterly treatment. The nude is not handled as a person but venerated as an object. Its own identity is immaterial, the painters projection being vital. Recent exhibitions also reveal a shift from hardcore abstraction towards almost lifelike or semi-realistic renditions. The heavily sedimented surfaces are giving way to exquisitely pecked, pointillated and marbelized textures in water-based paints, and a marked linearity vis a vis heavy brush work is bringing a new grace to his work. It is in this minute pigmented texture and elegance of line that his rootedness in miniature become most apparent. A past master at fragmentations of a single shade, his colour subtleties have refined even further. The new batch on display at the museum contained some choice pieces where ivory flesh tones reminded one of the old masters of yore. Jamil Naqsh has brought his own stamp to the art of calligraphy also by inventing a fine linear scrawl with cross hatchings and interweaving. Though most abstract in nature, its delicate rendering harks back to his training with Ustad Sheriff. A compulsive worker, art for Jamil Naqsh is now a labour of love. Having evolved his own idiom a long time ago he is now delving further into ever changing facets of thought progression and workmanship. He explores the ideology of art within the parameters of his own range constantly producing work that continues to enthrall his audiences. He has earned his museum – and his niche in the history of art in Pakistan.

Rashid Arshad's display at Chawkandi, though just as invigorating emits a different ethos altogether. As far back as 1970, his name has been synonymous with abstract calligraphy, but actually the script is only a central motif in his work. Essentially Arshad is an artist grappling aesthetic problems in a painterly manner. He is a bold and daring colourist with a keen eye for abstract composition and textured nuances. His approach is somewhat geometric; horizontal and vertical spaces are marked out with an ovoid or circle here and there. The Arabic script in a variety of mannerisms is imprinted or woven through these spaces as a unifying decorative pattern. Texture is evoked through pecks, points, scrawls, scratches and surface hatching. Clever use of colour harmonizes these diverse elements into a lively integrated whole. Diversity in style and approach speak of the artist's wide range. It could also be due to varied exposure as resident of a foreign country vis a vis the insular outlook of local artists.

A 1960 graduate of NCA with advanced studies at Parsons School of Design, NY and Centre of Innovate Printmaking Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Arshad has exhibited extensively at home and abroad. His most recent showing was a retrospective exhibition of his work sponsored by the University of New Jersey.