Abdur Rahman Chughtai

Abdur Rahman Chughtai
Abdur Rahman Chughtai (21 September 1894 – 17 January 1975) was a painter, artist, and
intellectual from Pakistan, who created his own unique, distinctive painting style influenced by
Mughal art, miniature painting, Art Nouveau and Islamic art traditions. He is considered to be 'the first
significant modern Muslim artist from Pakistan',[2] and the national artist of Pakistan.[1]
He was given the title of Khan Bahadur by the British Empire in British India in 1934, awarded
Pakistan's Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award in 1960, and the Pride of Performance Award
in 1958 by the President of Pakistan.[3]
Early life and career
Chughtai was born on 21 September 1897 in Lahore, now in Pakistan.[1][4] He was the second son of
Karim Bukhsh, who belonged to a prominent Punjabi Muslim family of artists descending from
generations of craftsmen, architects, and decorators.[5][6] Chughtai briefly learned naqqashi from his
uncle Baba Miran Shah Naqqash at a local mosque.[4] After completing his education at the Railway
Technical School, Lahore, in 1911, Chughtai joined the Mayo School of Arts, Lahore (now called
National College of Arts, Lahore), where Samarendranath Gupta, a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore was
Vice-Principal. After leaving the school, he made a living for a while as a photographer and drawing
teacher. He eventually became the head instructor in chromo-lithography at the Mayo School.[7][6][8]
Letter of Chugtai to Bhai Vir Singh
In 1916, Chughtai's first painting in a revivalist 'oriental' style appeared in the Modern Review
magazine. He had his first exhibition in 1920 at the Punjab Fine Art Society.[4] He also exhibited with
the Indian School of Oriental Art during the 1920s,
Abdur Rahman Chughtai
by which time he had become quite renowned. His
work contributed greatly to Lahore's burgeoning ‫عبد الرحمن چغتائی‬
PP HI
modern art scene. While he predominantly worked
with watercolors, Chughtai was also a print-maker,
perfecting his etching skills in London during visits
in the mid-1930s.[9] His sketches were used in
many books in Punjabi poetry by Bhai Vir Singh for
illustrating his famous poems like "Kambadi Kalai"
and including his famous epic "Rana Surat Singh".
Chughtai offered his gratitude to Bhai Vir Singh for
becoming part of these illustrations as a young
artist in his letter to him on 11.04.1929[10]
In his sixty years of artistic creation, Chughtai

produced nearly 2000 watercolours, thousands of
pencil sketches, and nearly 300 etchings and
Born 21 September 1897[1]
aquatints. He also wrote short stories, and articles
Lahore, Punjab,
on art. He designed stamps, coins, insignia and British India[1]
book covers. He was also an avid collector of
Died 17 January 1975
miniatures and other art.[4] He published three
(aged 80)[1]
books of his own work: the Muraqqai-i-Chughtai
Lahore, Punjab,
(1927), Naqsh-i-Chughtai (c. 1935) and
Pakistan[1]
[11]
CFqueenhughtai's Paintings (1940). The
Muraqqa-i-Chughtai was a sumptuously illustrated Nationality Pakistani
edition of Mirza Ghalib's Urdu poetry,[6] with a

Movement Chughtai style of
foreword by Sir Muhammad Iqbal. It is regarded painting
as the most significant work of Chughtai's
Awards Khan
career[2] and in its time, was considered the finest
Bahadur
achievement in book production in the country. [12]
Hilal-i-Imtiaz
After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Chughtai Pride of

Performance
came to be regarded as one of the most famous
representatives of Pakistan. Chughtai's paintings Website chughtaimuseum
were given to visiting heads of state Allama Iqbal, .com (http://chughtai
Pablo Picasso, Elizabeth II was amongst his museum.com)
admirers.
Chughtai's closest associate was his younger brother Abdullah Chughtai, a scholar and researcher of
Islamic art.[2] Chughtai married twice, and had two children, a son and daughter. He died in Lahore on
17 January 1975.[4][1]
Art
Night of Nishapur. A poetess seated in

a pavilion holding a book in her hand,
by Abdul Rahman Chughtai, early 20th
century, Lahore museum.
Chughtai's early watercolours take off from the revivalism of the Bengal School of Art[6] – his
Jahanara and the Taj, for instance, shows the influence of Abanindranath's The Last Moments of
Shah Jahan.[7] By the 1940s, he had created his own style, strongly influenced by Islamic art
traditions, but retaining a feel of Art Nouveau. His subject matter was drawn from the legends,
folklore and history of the Indo-Islamic world, as well as Punjab, Persia and the world of the
Mughals.[1]
Abdur Rahman Chughtai also designed the logo for the Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) at the
behest of its first general manager, Ubaidur Rahman. The logo has been tweaked and modified over
the years since its inception but remains fundamentally the same. On Pakistan's independence day in
1951, he produced a set of 9 stamps, better known as 'Chughtai Art set'. At that time, this set was
considered as the most beautiful stamps of the world.[8]
Artist and gallery owner Salima Hashmi deems Chughtai one of South Asia's foremost painters. "He
was part of the movement that started in the early part of the 20th century to establish an identity
indigenous to the subcontinent", she said. "He rejected the hegemony of the British Colonial
aesthetic".
Painting exhibits
Chughtai's works are owned by the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National
Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi), the Peace Palace (in The Hague), United Nations Headquarters,
New York, the Kennedy Memorial in Boston, the US State Department (in Washington, D.C.),
President's House Bonn, AP State Archaeology Museum,[13]
Queen Juliana's Palace in the Netherlands, Emperor's Palace Bangkok, President House Islamabad,
Governors' Houses in Lahore and Karachi, and the National Art Gallery, Islamabad. Many of his works
are at the Chughtai Museum Trust in Lahore, Pakistan.
Works
Maqalat-i Chughtaʾi. 2 vols. Islamabad: Idarah-yi Saqafat-i Pakistan, 1987.
Lahaur ka dabistan-i musavviri. Lahore: Chughtai Museum Trust, 1979.
Chughtai’s Paintings. 2nd ed. Lahore: Print Printo Press, 1970.
Amal-i Chughtaʾi: Poet of the East Lahore: Self-published, 1968.
Naqsh-i Chughtaʾi: Divan-i Ghalib Musavvir. Lahore: Ahsan Bradarz, 1962.
Chughtai’s Indian Paintings. New Delhi: Dhoomi Mal, 1951.
Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi. Lahore: Jahangir Book Club, 1927.[6][8]
Other works
Among Chughtai's popularly known works are Hashim Shahbaz and Radio Pakistan and his painting
of Anarkali for the cover of a 1992 drama. Additionally, one of the most successful UNICEF cards
features a Chughtai piece. He was also known for his designs of postage stamps.[14] United Nations
Organization art correspondent Jacob-Baal Teshuva wrote that Chughtai's paintings are the largest
set released in 1948.[15]
Awards and recognition
Awarded the title of 'Khan Bahadur' in 1934 by the British Empire[3]
Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award in 1960 by the President of Pakistan[3]
Pride of Performance Award in 1958 by the President of Pakistan[3]
Gallery
See also
Anarkali
References
1. "Profile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai - Pakistani Artist" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/to

pic/1365955/Abdur-Rahman-Chughtai) . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
2. Iftikhar Dadi (2010). Modernism and the art of Muslim South Asia (https://books.google.com/bo
oks?id=dvlIAQAAIAAJ) . University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3358-2.
3. Profile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai on Grosvenor Gallery website (https://www.grosvenorgallery.

com/artists/52-abdur-rahman-chughtai/overview/) Retrieved 20 June 2019
4. "Profile at Chughtai Museum website" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101230025031/http://w

ww.chughtaimuseum.com/index.php) . Chughtai Museum. Archived from the original (http://w
ww.chughtaimuseum.com/index.php) on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2019.

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Early life and career

Letter of Chugtai to Bhai Vir Singh

In his sixty years of artistic creation, Chughtai

edition of Mirza Ghalib's Urdu poetry,[6] with a

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Chughtai Pride of

Night of Nishapur. A poetess seated in

Maqalat-i Chughtaʾi. 2 vols. Islamabad: Idarah-yi Saqafat-i Pakistan, 1987.

Lahaur ka dabistan-i musavviri. Lahore: Chughtai Museum Trust, 1979.

Chughtai’s Paintings. 2nd ed. Lahore: Print Printo Press, 1970.

Amal-i Chughtaʾi: Poet of the East Lahore: Self-published, 1968.

Naqsh-i Chughtaʾi: Divan-i Ghalib Musavvir. Lahore: Ahsan Bradarz, 1962.

Chughtai’s Indian Paintings. New Delhi: Dhoomi Mal, 1951.

Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi. Lahore: Jahangir Book Club, 1927.[6][8]

Awarded the title of 'Khan Bahadur' in 1934 by the British Empire[3]

Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award in 1960 by the President of Pakistan[3]

Pride of Performance Award in 1958 by the President of Pakistan[3]

1. "Profile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai - Pakistani Artist" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/to

3. Profile of Abdur Rahman Chughtai on Grosvenor Gallery website (https://www.grosvenorgallery.

4. "Profile at Chughtai Museum website" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101230025031/http://w

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