Abdul Hayee is the most prominent water colour landscape painter in Pakistan. He has been painting much more and much longer than the others in the field. Karachi art circle in the late 60's and early 70's witnessed a development in water colour painting and provide a base that nurture many water colour masters like Abdul Hayee.
His contributions in water colour should not be overlooked. His paintings reveal a painter who continues to strengthen his technique and skill in the application of colour and form. His engagement with the surrounding location creates a bond with his paintings.
Among the collection of his artworks, eye-catching view of the dreamy landscape carrying water, trees, birds and a few serene effects. The effect of water and tall trees predominates with a changing tempo in his paintings. His paintings depict blooming flowers, quiet forests and shallow waters in ffresh yellow, green and blues "My work is simple reflection of my inspiration as I always wanted to amalgamate nature with my inner feelings. I am fascinated by nature, it derives immense satisfaction while capturing the surrounding scene full of life," he said while commenting on his work.
His landscape paintings reveal sensitive works disclosing dreamy impacts and managed to hold fleeting movements. His work is well planned and executed brilliantly through delicately spreaded colours, which makes him the master of this medium. Exploring nature through the genre of landscapes, Hayee creates aesthetically beautiful works of art motivated by his relationship with the surroundings.
He is well known for his impressions of boats on the bank of river and tall shady trees and colourful beds of flowers. His paintings reflect perfectly the environs and the particular way of life of the area colored by the austere beauty of the landscape and its nomadic heritage.
He takes inspiration from a direct observation of nature as he paints on location and his rich palette brings a pictorial richness to his canvasses of that particular area. Most of the Hayee's paintings depict immense tranquillity, peace and serenity of life, his canvas soothes the eyes and gives you an inner feeling of calmness.
The enduring preoccupation with the theme has gone through many phases that are not easy to explain. He works with a profound understanding of his theme and medium. He has worked on the strength of his line as the basic requirement of art.
His paintings show the struggle and strive in a life devoted to art. For the last forty years, Hayee has been going out every week to paint on the spot outdoors. Hayee visits his two favourite resorts for many years, the Fish Harbour and Malir. At the latter, he finds trees and huts and verdant scenes while at the former he finds boats and water to paint. Only occasionally, he paints street scenes and houses. Abdul Hayee's landscapes paintings in water colour medium attracts viewers and take them to the same location where it is painted. He prefers to paint in the early evening because the rays of the sun at this time fall slantingly and illuminate the subject attractively, instead of falling from the top as at noon, when heavy shadows fall on objects and things do not appear in the best light.
The early work of Hayee shows that he used to paint very cautiously and in great detail. This is specially apparent in his boat scenes. The forms of the boats are very carefully and minutely depicted. Later, he gave up this style and began to paint Impressionistically. Free brushwork became very prominent in his paintings, especially in the arboreal scenes (with trees).
He uses very balance colour tones with green, a little red will be added to make the tone dark and a little yellow to make it light. Raw and unmixed green is only rarely used. No white is ever mixed with the colours and also no black is ever used. The dark tones are created by mixing green and red. His best work is undoubtedly most outstanding, both in the case of the boat scenes and the arboreal scenes, but more so the latter.
Hayee is a genuine landscape artist; painting is his only passion. His love for art can be judged as he sacrificed his whole life, and living a bachelor's life, contented with his canvasses, colours and brushes.
Born in 1948 in Etawah he graduated from the Karachi School of Art in 1971. There he had the opportunity to learn the use of water colour from Bengali teachers. He is the most senior among the water-colourists much appreciated for his sensitive handling of the medium. Over the years Hayee's work has become softer and mature.
Abdul Hayee is one of a few eminent water colour artists who graduated from KSA and continue to explore this medium. Many of the artists prefer to print from photographs or sketches but Hayee is one of the few who persist in painting the outdoors. Hayee is a painter of nature. He finds greenery in old facades. His water images are marvellous with shades of greys and blues. He renders large trees in urban areas. He devotes his whole life to art and he deserves a Pride of Performance Award for his contributions to art.