Interestingly, landscape painting was considered to be at the lower ranks of art genres by the 17th-century French academy. It was only in due course, therefore, that landscape painting became popular. The factors that allowed this to happen include a conscious effort by artists to move away from religious and historical symbolism that was pervasive in Western painting. Moreover, there was a response to the industrialization and resultant urbanization, which inspired artists to paint land- and cityscapes. Greater availability of transportation also allowed painters to go out of cities over weekends and paint quietly. There was also the motiviation to paint for the glory of the country through landscape, particularly the United States which as a new country lacked historical events to be painted - as opposed to the Europeans. The age of colonialism used landscape painting to document new lands, remind the colonists of their home countries and cast the colonists in a glamorous light. New inventions like portable paint tubes and field easels also allowed artists to paint en plein air.
Miniature painting has had a strong tradition of linear landscape used in the background or to set the stage for an illustration - be it depiction of a battle or a romantic courtly episode
It is difficult to paint a landscape because of constant changes in light, season, scale, expanse and even the varying interplay of flora and fauna. Some take photos, make notes, or look for convenient spots but for classical landscape painters there is no other way but to paint on the spot - taking rugged paths, carrying their equipment, and braving exposure to different weather conditions and unknown situations. This is done much like an adventurer.
In the Indian Subcontinent landscape composition has been used as an architectural design and motif to decorate forts, mosques, temples, shrines and other religious buildings. Miniature painting has had a strong tradition of linear landscape used in the background or to set the stage for an illustration - be it depiction of a battle or a romantic courtly episode. However, it was not till the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that Western-style landscape painting emerged as an independent genre here. The establishment of arts schools in the Subcontinent - like the JJ School in Bombay or the Mayo School of Arts in Lahore - provided formal education in both local crafts and Western fine arts to aspiring visual artists.
Ustad Allah Bakhsh (1875-1978), who learned painting from private mentors, pioneered landscape painting in the early years of the country’s independence. His European-style realistic landscapes, both in watercolour and oil, depicted Punjab’s agrarian life and settings of romantic folklore. As Pakistan gained its independence, the Mayo School of Arts was later upgraded into the National College of Arts and an all-girls Fine Arts department of the Punjab University was established by Anna Molka Ahmad (1917-1995) in 1940. It was also eventually opened to male students. Anna Molka Ahmad’s impressionist paintings had a romantic tinge of local landscape in them.
Zubaida Agha (1922-1997), who was trained in an arts studio in Lahore and later from Europe, did abstract and semi-abstract modernist cityscapes and landscapes.
Moyene Najmi (1928-1998) also painted abstract landscapes in the cubist tradition. He was one of the initiators of the Lahore Art Circle of the 1950s - a group inspired by abstract painting under Shakir Ali.
Khalid Iqbal (1929-2014) is the most influential and important landscape painter of the country. He taught and inspired many of the country’s landscape painters who devoutly followed his style. Iqbal went to study at the Slade School of Fine Arts, London, where Sir William Coldstream, pioneer of the ‘Euston Road style’ - known for naturalism and a realist style of drawing, was a key influence. Upon his return Iqbal continued with that influence, translating it into his mesmerizing landscapes. As a painter and teacher he encouraged direct observation and on-spot painting. Though there was no formal movement or a manifesto, his ardent followers began referring to what is termed as the “Punjab School of Landscape”!
Colin David (1937-2008), another Slade School graduate, though more known for his figurative work, painted modernist, sleek and smart landscapes. Zubeda Javed (1937-2015) is another painter who did semi-abstract city- and landscapes.
For various reasons classic landscape painting is not much in vogue these days. These include the current experimental trajectory in contemporary Pakistani art
Among Khalid Iqbal’s student and followers Zulqarnain Haider (1939), Ghulam Mustafa (1952), and Nazir Ahmed (1952) have painted in the Punjab School, faithfully taking forward Iqbal’s tradition. Haider, whose classic Punjab landscape compositions painted in acrylic - a medium he relies on because of medical reasons - is the most senior of landscape painters from that generation. Nazir Ahmad has extensively painted Lahore and rural areas in the vicinity. Ghulam Rasul (1942-2009) followed the same detailed style. Rasul was later inspired by the hilly contours of Islamabad and of the Northern Areas of Pakistan and did more simplistic paintings. Ijaz-Ul-Hassan (1940) paints simplified and stylized domestic gardens trees and shrubbery. Shahid Jalal (1948) has worked on thickly painted public and private gardens. Ghulam Mustafa has painted Lahore’s inner city, and different parts of Pakistan in pastel, oil and acrylic. Zulfiqar Zulfi painted city and rural settings in different mediums.
Musarat Mirza (1941) paints landscape of Sindh. Her monochromatic works in oil and watercolours convey a certain sense of desolation and loneliness. Kaleem Khan (1958) focuses on the rugged yet majestic landscape of Baluchistan. Khalid Iqbal’s inspiration takes a different turn from Khan’s work - as he puts on canvas Baluchistan’s vast landscape, its light and shadows, and climate. The barren hills or dry winter mountains have an off-white tinge different from the grays of Iqbal’s winter.
Dr. Ajaz Anwar (1946) is a widely respected teacher, painter and Lahore aficionado. His bold water color cityscapes capture the exuberance of the historic city and also preserve Lahore’s colonial heritage. Iqbal Hussain (1950) paints Lahore’s walled city, offering visual insights into the layered life of that quarter and surrounding areas.
Qudus Mirza (1962), art critic and now head of NCA’s fine arts department, known for his post-modernist idiom, also indulged in classic Punjabi landscape painting in his career when he was under the influence of great Khalid Iqbal. Rahat Naheed Masud (1953) has painted plains and hilly areas focusing on how light varies in different terrains.
Mughees Riaz (1971) has photogenic landscape compositions. His ink compositions of cows are particularly delightful. Ajab Khan’s delightful paintings of DI Khan’s surroundings also documents the scenery of his hometown.
Some of the contemporary artists are using it in a different manner. Imran Qureshi’s (1971) work amalgamates with the surrounding landscape of his installations like his work at Aga Khan Museum, Toronto. Ali Kazim (1979) works with desolation and depicts deserted historical ruins, drawing inspiration from Harappa and other older civilizations in Pakistan. Atif Khan (1972), a print maker, creates both land- and dreamscapes by taking different elements from miniature painting and architectural designs. Warda Shabir is a young artist who has started using shrubbery and gardens in her work.
For various reasons classic landscape painting is not much in vogue these days. These include the current experimental trajectory in contemporary Pakistani art, trends in the visual art market both domestic and external and not much importance given to classic landscape painting by leading art academia among others. Despite all that a beautiful mountain in Pakistan’s North, desolate desert in the South, rocky terrain, village life, cityscape or a mundane wayside puddle should keep inspiring our artists and writers. Turning the ordinary into the extraordinary for their viewers is certainly well within the ability of masters like Khalid Iqbal and his ardent followers. And the legacy will endure.
The writer can be reached at smt2104@columbia.edu