On the Independence Day President Asif Ali Zardari conferred Civil Awards, 2009 on prominent personalities for their meritorious services in various fields. In the field of Art Sitar-e-Imtiaz was conferred on Muhammad Hanif Ramay (posthumously), and on Jamil Naqsh while Tamgha-e-Imtiaz was conferred on painter Najmi Sura.
Muhammad Hanif Ramay's career has covered both artistic achievement and involvement at the very highest levels of politics. He was internationally renowned intellectual; he earned a good name in politics and great respect in the profession of journalism. Born in a village near Shiekhupura in 1931, Ramay's family move to Lahore when he was very young.
Trained by his father in the art of stylised handwriting, he was encouraged by his brother to explore his talent at a professional level. In 1952 and 53, with his brother's encouragement, he developed artistic skills. He was fascinated by Chughtai's work.
Ustaad Allah Buksh, taught him the technicalities of painting while he continued to learn calligraphy from the professionals. Ramay's time with Ustaad Buksh, produced some lasting and influential results. He began merging his calligraphy with modern abstract art. He introduced a new style, which initially his contemporary artists ridiculed.
Hanif Ramay was the earliest artists to practice the innovative form called painterly calligraphy. He emerged in 1955 as a purely abstract painter and afterwards turned to calligraphy. He found Arabic letters and words very suitable for making abstract composition. He did calligraphy on paper and in small size. He uses short verses and phrases of the Holy Quran. But he exaggerates and modified the words and letters giving them a stylised artistic design but always maintain a clear legibility.
Hanif became famous for his Picasso-inspired art and thus he became the pioneer for painterly Calligraphy, his art was exhibited all around the world and was praised by various art journals and art critics. Often Sadequain is given credit for the painterly Calligraphy in Pakistan, but in fact Hanif was the true pioneer of this technique, which later inspired many painters across the world.He was followed in painterly calligraphy by Shakir Ali, Sadequain, Aftab Ahmed, Guljee and many more. Muhammad Hanif Ramay passed away on 1st January, 2006 at the age of 75.
Jamil Naqsh is deemed the only living Pakistani modern master artist. Naqsh can be best described as a man who lives by his art and on his own terms. He is one of the best painters of sub continent and best in Pakistan. He was born in 1939 in Kairana, India and later moved to Karachi, Pakistan. During 1951-53 he travelled through South Asia to study Art. He joined Mayo School of Art, Lahore in 1953; here he chose miniature painting as his subject of study. He also studied in National College of Arts for two years. Jamil Naqsh was trained as a miniaturist by Professor, Ustaad Haji Sharif (the father of miniature painting in Pakistan).
His collection of works demonstrates a surge of creativity that has led him to a lot of experimentation. Jamil Naqsh mostly paints woman and pigeon and this obsession has won him local as well as international acclaim. His paintings have become popular at international level. For a number of years his paintings and drawings graced the international auction houses such as Bonhams, Sothebys and Christies, fetching in excess of US $100,000. His masterly work of art has been exhibited at dozens of solo and group exhibitions in Pakistan and abroad. He has also donated numerous paintings for charitable causes in Pakistan.
Naqsh has honed to perfection the quintessential woman and pigeon theme. This theme varies with every painting. The mood is distinct in each work, but the woman and the pigeon are always in sync. He has experimented with his favourite subject 'woman' often integrating the elements of horse or child. Naqsh using the miniature technique, moved towards abstraction.
This allowed him to paint from his subconscious rather than depict the realism, which had been the style of miniature painting for centuries. Jamil Naqsh has also work in calligraphy in his modern style with unique and bold brush strokes. Jamil Naqsh currently lives a reclusive life in London.
Naqsh's presence on the art landscape of Pakistan was given its due when he became the subject of an extensive retrospective at the Mohatta Palace Museum in December 2003: Jamil Naqsh-A Retrospective. Born in 1951, Najmi Sura got her Bachelors degree from Karachi University and began learning miniature painting from Jamil Naqsh. Her first exhibition was held in 1977 and mostly all of her paintings were sell at home.
Najmi Sura is one of the very few artists of the country who have developed a new personal style based on our age-old miniature painting. Modern international styles were sweeping the world and almost all of our artists were irresistibly drawn towards them. Najmi Sura using her creative power brought originality to miniature painting. She won the first prize at the annual exhibition of the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi in 1984.
Since then her work has continuously grown in popularity, both among the general public and connoisseurs. Only a few miniature painters make original compositions and Najmi Sura is one of them. She creates her own compositions but takes care to maintain the link with tradition by using the old familiar poses and gestures, the profile view, the expressionless face, the old hairdo, dresses and jewellery, the scarf (dupatta), the garments all are formal and schematic not natural.
However, there are many differences in Najmi Sura's work. Her figures come close into view that is forward in the picture space whereas in old miniatures the figures are placed at a distance. She uses oil colour on canvas instead of traditional water colour medium on paper. Her work is basically a drawing and her command over the line is noteworthy. Her paintings are not just dolls or puppet but they are creatures of flesh and blood.
In some paintings she depicts half a dozen female figures and in others running elephants or a rearing horse which has been painted in noble old tradition, the single female figures are the commonest in her works. Najmi Sura's work has managed to capture the true essence of women of the sub continent. Depicting traditional beauty of women in the age old minature paintings, her works is a celebration of such beauties. She has mastered the use of oil paints and achieved this during her long journey in art.
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