The demand for Pakistani art in international art circles has been rising steadily for the past decade and a half. While younger artists have also been able to make inroads into the global art market, the works of bygone iconic artists like Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Ustad Allah Bakhsh, Sadequain, Ismail Gulgee and Anwar Jalal Shemza seem to be the favoured choice of collectors visiting old and established auction houses such as Sothebys and Bonhams.

This ‘old is gold’ trend was recently reiterated at an auction at Bonhams, at its New Bond Street London venue, held on November 22. Since the 1990s, Bonham’s ‘Modern and Contemporary South Asian Department’ has been active in promoting both Indian and Pakistani art.

In this latest auction of South Asian art, 14 paintings of Pakistani artists were sold, including one each of Chughtai, Sadequain and Colin David, two of Shemza, and seven of Gulgee. All the paintings fetched good prices.

A dazzling array of paintings by prominent Pakistani masters has caught the attention of art collectors in the recent Bonhams auction

Chughtai’s “Maiden with Child” sold for 30,000 pounds is in the artist’s individualistic, fine and sensitive style. Made with ink and pencil, it is an example of his later watercolours, wherein the focus is more on line rather than on colour. Movement, both in terms of the play of lines, and in the gestures of the two figures, makes the work an engaging and animated piece.

Sadequain’s “Acrobats” is an oil painting made in 1966 while the artist was in Paris. Sadequain is more famous for his strongly symbolic and stylised figurative art and calligraphy. This work, however, is an interesting example of figures converted into calligraphy in a purely abstract style, indicating the influence of artists such as Picasso and Matisse during his stay in Europe. It was sold for 22,500 pounds.

Colin David’s “Untitled” nude figure (sold for 5,000 pounds), is rendered in oil on canvas and is an eye-catching painting made in the artist’s quintessential style. A solitary female figure, face averted and lying sideways on a black and white rug, seems both an exercise in figurative painting as well as design. The presence of a red ball in the foreground and a green one near the figure, leading the eye towards the figure, reiterate the artist’s measured attempt to use the elements of design to create movement, focus and emphasis. David is one of the very few Pakistani artists who have painted nudes as a pristinely aesthetic exercise.

Shemza’s “Golden Roots” made in ink on paper,(sold for 6,000 pounds), and “Circuit 4” in ink and gouache on paper, (sold for 6,875 pounds) are both dated 1983 while “Tryptich” (sold for 8,125 pounds) is a mixed-media work dated 1984. They are engaging examples of the artist’s penchant for abstraction that has its roots in Islamic calligraphy. Shemza was not only a painter, but also a poet and Urdu novelist and his cerebral approach to art resonate in his paintings.

As for Gulgee, the most popular artist in terms of sales, his seven works represent the versatility of his talent. “Allah” (sold for 5,000 pounds), “Ya Ali” (sold for 13,750 pounds), “Abstract on White” (sold for 5,250 pounds), represent the artist’s instantly recognisable, colourful and spontaneous calligraphy or ‘action painting’ that became his signature style.

The two other calligraphic works, “Kufic Script” (sold for 9,375 pounds) and “Gold Calligraphy” (sold for 7,500 pounds), are almost monochromatic, very formal works of Islamic calligraphy rendered in the Kufic script. Gulgee, the self-taught artist, was initially known for his realism, and his painstaking mosaic portraits made in lapis lazuli were indeed exquisite. In this auction, “Camels on White” is a stunning example of his lapiz mosaic work, and fetched a whopping price of 62,500 pounds).

While it is indeed heartening to see Pakistani art being sold for high prices at a prestigious art house, one does wish that upcoming artists could also catch the attention of affluent collectors whose choices seem to be rather too predictable. Already artists such as Shazia Sikandar, Rashid Rana, Imran Qureshi, Naiza Khan and a few others have made inroads into the international art markets. As Bonham’s Asian art specialist Mehreen Rizvi said, “There are a lot of new artists who have the potential to make it big internationally, but for that to happen they need to be appreciated at home first.” That indeed is food for thought.

The “Modern and contemporary South Asian Art” auction was held at Bonhams at its New Bond Street London venue on November 22

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, December 4th, 2016