(Dedicated to Ustaad Latif Chughtai)
Our above mentioned Art teacher used to say that of all the philanthropists, those buying Art pieces are the bravest because this is the least necessary of the luxury items. They could do without it yet in buying they support the artists. He also used to chuckle that Paintings are like daughters and hence must go to their new homes and therefore you don’t cheat on their caretakers. Most rickshaws display Matchmaker ads which drives the point that there is something fishy going on. Some years back the then Director general of Pakistan Council of the Arts, famous poet Kishwar Naheed had organized a seminar in Karachi, on a very controversial topic “Copying too is an Art”. I managed to shoot it down with a single declaration that some Painters painted more posthumously. Yes, only established painters were being ghost/copied by the living persons. Here I must confess that many in all their innocent sincerity have copied my work without waiting for me to become history as they call a diseased person. But it is matter of great satisfaction that my copyists thought me worthy of being imitated.
While Humayun was coming back to regain his former kingdom, apart from Kabul and Qandhar, Shah Tehmasp presented him as a parting gift services of three miniature painters who founded the Moghul school of Miniature painting that culminated in its zenith during the period of Jahangir. Likewise during the Ottoman Sultanate, best miniature paintings were produced during the period of Murat the third. After the decline of the Moghul patronage, the various smaller states too patronized painters especially in the Pahari School. The Company school as the East India Company produced some European influences. Watercolour too became fashionable during this period especially among the ladies of the British serving here. They also produced “Penny Prints” which in fact were etching prints on watercolour paper which were subsequently hand painted. One such print shows the river Ravi flowing behind Chauburji. With the establishment of J.J. School of Arts where many earlier legendary painters were trained, this subcontinent entered the Modern age. Bengal school too had a big share in it. Tagore was an important contributor and subsequently Abdur-Rehman Chughtai too can be part of it. Chughtai was also on the teaching staff of Mayo School of Arts and was expert in intaglio etching printing, he was assisted by Master Ain Din. Ustad Allah Bux was a different phenomenon, he started his journey to the Hall of Fame as a painter of “Sceneries” on the North Western Railway wagons’ partition walls. He was colourist par excellence. Of the various foreign trained painters like Shakir Ali, Amrita Shergil would make this piece encyclopedic.
Out of the blue came the person known as SADEQUAIN, who according to himself: I am in that proud company of aesthetics;
Whatever I am, I am in my own (unique) style;
That apart from being a calligrapher, a poet, a painter,
I am in all so many other pursuits, it remains a secret.
(Loose translation from his verses)
This creative intellectual was an excellent Calligrapher, a Poet and a Painter but never recognized by the practitioners of these pursuits during his lifetime. Yet, they all copied him extensively after his death giving rise to the popular expression that he painted more after his death. Seeing a large body of his works on display at prestigious collections and flooded in the market one is really convinced of the smoke screen built by the Ghost Painters. Recently as I walked into the entrance lobby of an upscale hotel of the city in company of famous painters M. Javed and Saeed, we were astonished to see so many fakes of the prime painter of Pakistan as if he were hiding somewhere in the labyrinth of the highly priced rooms.
I had the privilege of documenting a collection of his sketches he had produced during his stay at Paris at the residence of Mon. Bertrand Fried around 1966. I am indebted to late Qamar Yurush who brought me published verses by Sadequain and I was able to use these sketches as illustrations of his poetry. Surprisingly he turned out to be right when he expresses thus: I have composed verses in my pictures. The catalogue accompanied with the Amroha born artist’s family background and his own stints in various diverse hobbies turned out to be a hardbound 176 page book with his illustrations and calligraphed by himself, verses scanned directly. This book was financed by Mudassar Special Education Trust school in Kharian and I wrote it for free as my contribution to the noble cause and it was very economically produced, yet it has a very high printing quality on matt art paper, as I did not let the printer and the allied team to make any profit; it was printed in 2001.
Some years later after dusk, someone came to my house in a private taxi without appointment. As the man claimed to be a relation of Sadequain, I gifted him a copy out of the few books I was allowed. And it was later this ghost of a man had found my book a mere booklet much to my regret. Little did he know that during all these years of research and as Director of Art Gallery at the National College of Arts and my extensive travels abroad and exhibiting my work I became an expert on this leading intellectual of Pakistan. Many still come for authentication of his work. To the most I suggest that the work may immediately be returned to the seller. I can easily see the interrupted flow of his signatures and the lines of his drawing. Moreover, he was not a colourist. He played it safe in confines of limited colours consisting mostly of black, blues and an occasional warm hues. His subject matter too though complex can be easily be distinguished. With such a large body of his works available with private and commercial collections, it is not hard to imagine a whole breed of imitators are out to make quick bucks. Many are at daggers drawn in business rivalry close siblings included. While Chughtai was last of the traditionalists and worked in line and etchings and Allah Bux had colour scheme of his own, Sadequaine is easier to be copied given the printed images available in large numbers.
There is great talent available with the new generation. The above mentioned three artists have given their best and have already become part of art history books. But we have to move on, a whole new breed of young men are being trained and shall soon be our best ones. Thus instead of patronizing the ghost workers, real talent trying to survive, should be supported and encouraged.
- A Meeting when it rained cats and dogs - 02/08/2024
- Cheating on Art clients - 29/07/2024
