DHA Senior Schools Resource 1 Art Class 9 Week 4 (Monday 27 Apr to Friday 1May 2020) Topic: Master painters of Pakistan (Anna Molka Ahmed) ANNA MOLKA AHMED (1917__1994) Anna Molka Ahmed was the first women painter of Pakistan. She was the pioneer of Fine Arts in Pakistan after partition in 1947. She was born in London; she converted to Islam when she was 18 years old. She later married a Pakistani Sheikh Ahmed and came to Lahore in 1940. Anna Molka setup the Department of Fine Arts at Punjab University. Now it is called College of Arts and Design. PAINTING STYLE She had a strong and dynamic personality. She had a fiery temper. Her personality was expressed in her paintings. Anna Molka was an aggressive and exuberant artist. She worked in impasto with knives, which added to the emotional force in her paintings. She painted with skill, expression and powerful strokes. She used the colors of impressionists but she did not deform the subjects of her paintings. She combined impressionistic technique with expressionistic tones. She used to paint with oil paints on canvases. She used bright colors and maintained color harmony. She used different mediums such as water colors, gouache, fresco, tempera, oil colors, wax and mosaic to produce unique paintings. PAINTING TECHNIQUE (IMPASTO WITH KNIFE) Anna Molka painted with Palette knife. This technique is called impasto and it is an impressionistic technique. She did not use smooth brushes to apply colors and developed her unique style of painting. Art critics declared her work to be better than the work of most of her contemporary artists. Anna Molka’s multi cultural background made her view point vast and liberal. SUBJECTS OF HER WORK She used the medium of drawing, painting, graphic art, sculpture and design. Her work ranges from landscapes, homesteads, portraits, figurative compositions, festivals, war paintings to philosophical paintings. She was inspired by common life and events happening around her. EXAMPLES OF HER WORKS She painted unique landscape paintings, for example Jinnah garden, the punjab village, Punjab university and Murree hills. She also painted portraits, for example Portrait of Shakir Ali, Khalid Iqbal, some self portraits and portraits of common people. Examples of her figurative compositions include: The Bride, The Mujahid and The Music Lesson. She painted War paintings commissioned by Pakistan Army, for example War scenes of 1965 and 1971 Wars. In last period of her life she painted many philosophical paintings, for example Kismet, The Death of an Artist, The Dance of Death, Heaven and Hell. DHAES Subject Art Class 9 POETRY AND GARDENING Anna Molka wrote poetry in later part of her life. Some of her poems are: Daylight after night, Spring when birds sing, Sunshine after rain and So with life’s pain. Anna Molka was a passionate gardener. She used to cut hedges in new and artistic patterns. She kept on painting and gardening till the very last phase of her life. CONTRIBUTIONS AND AWARDS Her greatest contribution was that she was the pioneer of Art education in Pakistan. She set up the first Department of Fine Art at Punjab University in 1940.This institution became the training ground for women artists of Pakistan. She went from college to college and convinced students to take Art as a career subject. Many of her students became famous artists of Pakistan, like Colin David, Abrar Tirmazi and Javed Iqbal. These artists represented Pakistani Art on International level. Anna Molka also took evening Art classes at Lahore Arts Council ,her untiring efforts gradually upgraded Art education beyond BA to MA in Fine Art at Punjab University. She was awarded many awards for her contributions in the field of Art education in Pakistan, for example President’s Award for Pride of Performance in 1969. Khadija Tul Kubra Medal and Quaid e Azam Award. CONCLUSION Anna Molka Ahmed was the first woman artist of Pakistan. Anna Molka was an aggressive and exuberant artist .She had a strong and dynamic personality. Her strong personality and fiery temper are expressed in her paintings. She worked in impasto with knives; she did not use brushes to paint. She painted with skill, expression and powerful strokes .The use of knife and its strong strokes made her work very expressive and had an emotional quality in it. She used colors like impressionist painters. She used to work indifferent mediums, for example drawing, painting, graphic art, sculpture and design. She painted a large variety of subjects on canvases and with oil colors. Anna Molka Ahmed created a new path and a new way of looking at objects. She has become a great inspiration for female artists in Pakistan. Her work in the field of painting in Pakistan will always be remembered. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. Who was the pioneer woman Painter of Pakistan? (a) RabiaZuberi (b) Anna Molka Ahmed (c) Shazia Sikander (d) Marjorie Hussain 2. Which artist painted in impasto with knives? (a) ShaziaSikander (b) Anna Molka Ahmed (c) RabiaZuberi (d) Marjorie Hussain 3. Who laid the foundation of Fine Art Department at the Punjab University in Lahore? (a)Anna Molka Ahmed (b) RabiaZuberi (c) Marjorie Hussain (d)Shazia Sikander 4. Anna Molka Ahmed used the palette of the __________in her paintings. (a) Impressionists (b) Expressionists (c) Abstractionists (d) Calligraphists 5. Who painted landscapes, homesteads, portraits, figurative compositions, festivals, war paintings and philosophical paintings? (a) Marjorie Hussain (b) Shazia Sikander (c) RabiaZuberi (d) Anna Molka Ahmed 6. Who was the first Head of Department of Fine Art at Punjab University? DHAES Subject Art Class 9 (a) Ruby Chishti (b) Shazia Sikander (c) Anna Molka Ahmed (d) Rabia Zuberi 7. Anna Molka Ahmed painted with ________instead of smooth paint brushes. (a) Knives (b) Rods (c) Rollers (d) Sponges 8. Which artist was a passionate gardener? (a) ShakirAli (b) Anna Molka Ahmed (c) Sadequain (d) AR Chughtai 9. Who promoted female artists in newly born Pakistan, after partition? (a) Shakir Ali (b) Sadequain (c) Anna Molka (d) Zahoor ul Akhlaq 10. Who painted the war scenes of 1965 & 1971 wars? (a) Sadequain (b) Shakir Ali (c) AR Chughtai (d) Anna Molka DHAES Subject Art Class 9 DHA Senior Schools Resource 2 Art Class 9 Week 4 (Monday 27 Apr to Friday 1 May 2020) Topic: Master painters of Pakistan_(Abdur Rehman Chughtai) ABDUR REHMAN CHUGHTAI (1899 to 1975) NATIONAL ARTIST OF PAKISTAN EARLY INFLUENCES A.R Chughtai belonged to a family of Architects, engineers, painters, and decorators. His style of painting was influenced by Persian and Mughal traditional style of paintings. Initially his painting style was also influenced by Bengal School style of painting. At the age of 24 years, he developed his own unique style of painting. He stylized his figures with luscious, elongated eyes, elongated bodies and he painted fictional contents. STYLE OF PAINTING Chughtai used Persian Mughal traditional painting style in his paintings. He used line to create movement and to create decorative effects. He revived the Mughal style of painting and laid the foundation of a new style of paintings called Chughtai Art. He developed his own style of painting which was influenced by Mughal Art, Miniature painting, Art Nouveau and Islamic Art traditions. SUBJECTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS He painted subjects which were taken from the legends, folklore and history of Indo Islamic world, Punjab, Persia and Mughal emperors. After partition Chughtai became one of the most famous artists representing Pakistan. Chughtai played an important role in establishing the historical and cultural identity of people of Pakistan after partition. He chose such subjects to glorify the great moments in Muslim history and culture. THREE PERIODS OF CHUGHTAI’S ART (FIRST PERIOD) During the early phase of his painting style he laid great emphasis on detail and line. His painting style was inspired by a Bengali artist, Abhinandranath Tagore. He expressed a romantic and passive view of the world in his early paintings. By the end of first period he illustrated Diwan e Ghalib under the name of Muraqqa e Chughtai . Later he became dissatisfied with this style and developed new aspects in his Art. SECOND PERIOD During this second period Chughtai visited Europe and his work combined romantic views with some hint of realism. He reduced his emphasis on line and stress on mass increased in his work. He started using purer palette and some western techniques in his paintings. THIRD PERIOD During this period Chughtai fully developed his unique painting style. He used exaggerated forms in his paintings with luscious, elongated eyes, elongated bodies and draped clothes. The dress and general looks of Chughtai’s figures relate to 16th century Central Asian style. Paintings belonging to last phase of Chughtai’s work are more open with less detail. During his life time Chughtai produced 2000 water color paintings, thousands of pencil sketches and 300 etchings and aquatints. HIS BOOKS He also wrote short stories and articles on Art. He also designed stamps, coins and book covers. He published three books of his own work and their names are: Muraqqa e Chughtai, Naksh e Chughtai and Chughtai’s paintings. AWARDS AND HONORS He was given the title of Khan Bahadur by British Empire in India He is considered ‘The first significant modern Muslim artist from South Asia”. He is given the title of “National Artist of Pakistan”. He was awarded the President’s medal for Pride of Performance for his contributions in the field of painting in Pakistan. DHAES Subject Art Class 9 CONCLUSION A.R Chughtai created his own unique painting style influenced by Mughal art, miniature painting, Art Nouveau and Islamic Art traditions. He is considered the first significant Modern Muslim Artist from South Asia.