Gloomy Radhika. Chughtai’s early work. Wash and Tempera. (National Gallery of Modern Art Delhi)
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MUHAMMAD ABDUL REHMAN CHUGHTAI (1894-1975) gave the message of religious harmony through the medium of his paintings when, during the 1920s and 1930s, he painted more than 200 Hindu and Buddhist subjects. His masterpieces include Dance of Shiva, Saint Tulsi Das, Temptation of Buddha, etc. Chughtai’s rendition of An?rkali in 1922 is one of the most famous paintings of the courtesan. The painting was used as a cover for Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj’s play Anarkali, a landmark in Urdu drama writing, later adopted into films in India and Pakistan. His painting of Radha and Krishna was sold by Sotheby’s for a record price of $56,400.
Chughtai, who was born in Lahore, began with making woodblocks in Gumti Bazaar, trained in tiles at the Wazir Khan mosque and received formal education at the Mayo School of Art (now the National College of Art), Lahore. Then, he moved to Kolkata and worked there for several years. He began painting in the Bengal School style under the influence of Abandranath Tagore, a nephew of Rabindranath Tagore. Later, he studied etching at the School of Photo-engraving in London.
In the 1920s, he started using watercolours in the Bengal School style and specialised in watercolour wash, in which he integrated the traditional Mughal painting techniques with the Japanese wash method. He painted elegant, elongated stylised figures with luscious, half-closed oriental eyes having erotic overtones, in a linear iconography. This was supported by a decorative background based mostly on Saracenic architecture, created in mellow colours and composed in carefully balanced soothing harmonies in a soft wash. This resulted in an ethereal ambience. This peculiar mode of painting was best known as “Chughtai Style of Art”.
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His diverse subject matter included heroes and heroines from the Islamic history and heritage, kings and queens, episodes from Hindu mythology and Punjabi legends like Heer Ranjha, Sassi Punnu and Sohni Mahiwal. By painting these themes in the colonial milieu, Chughtai played a constructive role in establishing the historical and cultural identity of the Punjabi people.
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