jamil naqsh the painted word

ALBEMARLE JAMIL NAQSHTHE PAINTED WORD

JAM

IL NA

QS

HTH

E PA

INTE

D W

OR

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ALBEMARLE

JAMIL NAQSH

Jamil Naqsh was born in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh in 1938. In a still rapidly expanding art world, Jamil Naqsh holds a key position. He is the best-known contemporary artist from Pakistan, long famous in his own country, and also well established in international auctions.

His work reflects, not just the culture of Pakistan, but also that of the whole of the Indian subcontinent, both Muslim and non-Muslim. In particular, there are many echoes of the imperial Mughal regime that once ruled the whole of India.

Jamil Naqsh demonstrates how an artist with major gifts, coming from this background, has been able to enter into a fruitful relationship with Western Modernism, and thus link himself to what is now a worldwide community of visual artists.

Enriching Life

Sponsored by:

EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH

Edward Lucie-Smith is an internationally known art critic and historian, who is also a published poet and a practicing photographer. As a photographer he has exhibited in a wide variety of international locations, ranging from Kuala Lumpur to Rio de Janeiro and Kingston, Jamaica.

He has published more than a hundred books in all, chiefly but not exclusively about contemporary art. He is generally regarded as the most prolific and the most widely published writer on contemporary art. A number of his art books are used as standard texts throughout the world. Among the languages in which they have appeared are Chinese, Arabic and Persian.

He has organised exhibitions in a number of galleries worldwide – in Britain, Greece, Germany, the United States, Italy and Estonia, and most recently in Klaipeda, Lithuania. He has also served on the juries of the Cairo, Alexandria and Sharjah Biennials.

Supported by:

RANGOONWALA FOUNDATION

JAMIL NAQSHTHE PAINTED WORD

JAMIL NAQSHTHE PAINTED WORD

Text by

Edward Lucie-Smith

Curated by

Edward Lucie-Smith & Tony Pontone

ALBEMARLE GALLERY

Publisher:Albemarle Gallery | 2013 | 49 Albemarle Street London W1S 4JR UK

To accompany the exhibition: Jamil Naqsh ‘The Painted Word’ | 4 July – 31 August 2013

Text: Edward Lucie-Smith | Art Historian, Critic & Author

Co-Curators: Edward Lucie-Smith | Art Historian, Critic & AuthorTony Pontone | Founding Director, Albemarle Gallery

Design:Andy Somerford | Albemarle Gallery

Photography:Guy LockwoodJavier Ortega

Printers:Oldacres, London

Special thanks:Najmi Sura

416 Colour illustrations

© ALBEMARLE GALLERY 2013

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-62847-004-8

Enriching Life

Supported by:

Sponsored by:


CONTENTS

And the Angel Said… | Introductory text by Edward Lucie-Smith 8-13

Large Calligraphic Canvases | Plate 1-30 16-45

Small Calligraphic Canvases | Plate 31-236 48-150

Works on Paper | Plate 237-256 154-163

Verses in Praise of God | text by Edward Lucie-Smith 166

Verses in Praise of God | Plate 257-306 167-191

Jamil Naqsh and the 99 Names of God | text by Edward Lucie-Smith 194-197

Allah & the 99 Names of God 198-247

Angels 250-251

Biography 252-255

AND THE ANGEL SAID....

9

Even more than the other two great monotheistic religions, Islam is a religion linked to a book. The Islamic tradition relates that the Qu’ran was revealed to Muhammad, not all at once, but in several parts. The revelation was made by the angel Jibra’il (Gabriel) in a cave named Hira, situated in the mountains close to Mecca, where Muhammad had gone to pray and contemplate in seclusion.

On the first occasion, the angel appeared entirely unexpectedly, and commanded the Prophet to read what was shown to him. Muhammad replied: “I do not know how to read.” The angel seized him and forced him to read, in a struggle that resembles that of Jacob with the angel, as recounted in the Old Testament.

This story explains the presence of a figurative image at the beginning of a book that is otherwise devoted to apparently abstract compositions. Gabriel is the herald, or guide, who leads us into the rest of the story. Two similar images precede and introduce later sections, thus echoing the gradual unfolding of Muhammad’s own revelations.

The story is more labyrinthine and complex than it may appear to be at first sight. For the fact is that while these compositions appear to Western eyes to be purely abstract, part of the Modernist tradition of abstract art that began just about a century ago with artists such as Kandinsky, they are in fact made up of words and phrases with profound religious meaning. In Islamic culture there is always a tension between the desire to represent what is seen, and the fact that representation of living beings - particularly of human beings – is forbidden, though the ban is frequently broken. Jamil Naqsh is a distinguished practitioner of figurative painting, and the images he makes are frequently, in fact almost invariably, directly erotic in content.

This does not mean, however, that he has in any sense rejected his complex cultural heritage, which embraces both the miniature paintings made for successive Mughal rulers, and also the erotic sculptures made for pre-Mughal Hindu temples, such as those at Kajuraho, which date from about 950 to 1150 c.e. The paintings illustrated in this book offer a complex dialogue between traditional Arabic letter forms and Western contemporary art.

It is a vital part of this dialogue that the letter forms are vehicles for specific meanings – they are not autonomous, existing as ends in themselves. This is particularly significant if we examine the history of Western 20th century abstraction. If one looks, for example, at the case of Kandinsky, whose name has already been mentioned, one sees that his purely abstract forms were nevertheless rooted in his previous experience of working figuratively. In a famous autobiographical passage he describes how he was inspired to embark on his adventure into abstraction by seeing some of his own earlier works lying on their sides in his studio, positioned so that their figurative significance was momentarily lost.

Yet one also has to note that his voyage into this uncharted world of independent forms was also a spiritual, quasi-religious journey, inspired both by his interest in primitive shamanism and, even more strongly, by his commitment to Theosophy, the New Age creed of his generation. In fact, much of the history of 20th century abstract art is linked to a quest for religious feeling – but feeling not directly linked to any of the major historically established creeds. Mark Rothko, who was in many ways Kandinsky’s direct heir, though he came from a Jewish, not a Christian background, once said that the purpose of his paintings was to make people weep, without

Oil on panel | 1998 | Private Collection

Watercolour | 1996 | Private Collection

11

knowing exactly why. The self-consciously puritan Minimalism of the late 1960s and 1970s seems, at first sight like a violent rejection of these spiritual overtones. Yet when one looks at some of the pronouncements of Donald Judd, for example, one sees he seems to make quasi-religious claims. How about this, for example? “Society is basically not interested in art. Art has a purpose of its own.”

What Jamil Naqsh’s paintings based on Arabic calligraphy do is to return art to society – they restore the broken link. It is not simply that Naqsh has turned to these forms as a basis for his paintings. It is also that he is a trained calligrapher, with a thorough understanding of the various styles that leading calligraphers have employed through the centuries. He is therefore situated within a centuries old tradition, while being at the same time completely aware of the history of Western Modernism. With this new series of works his job has been to reconcile two apparently opposing kinds of artistic endeavour.

One thing worth remembering, in this connection, is that Arabic script, while less obviously ‘pictorial’ than Chinese characters, contains subtly pictorial elements, of a kind that don’t exist in standard Western alphabets. This, too, has a religious basis.

In Arabic the relevant word not only denotes God, it actually is God – the form in which godhead manifests itself. To represent God in human form is blasphemous. It is equally blasphemous to make images of the Prophet – Western caricaturists have, on recent occasions, endangered themselves by doing so. The word, or Word, on the contrary, encapsulates God in a physical form that believers can handle. Spoken, sung or written, it retains its sacred character, without venturing into forbidden territory.

One of the things that the techniques of Western painting bring to these word forms, these conjunctions of Arabic characters, is a kind of meatiness, a physicality that doesn’t exist in most traditional forms of Islamic art.

It is possible to argue – and indeed I would argue – that the greatest expression of the Islamic aesthetic is in architecture, in built forms that rely for their effect on the conjunction of massive, more than human-sized shapes, and – even more – on the subtle manipulation of enclosed, interior space. The main adornment of many of the world’s most important Islamic buildings is, of course, inscriptions written in Arabic script – generally in the primitive, hieratic version of that script called Kufic.


13

Kufic inscriptions are not always easy to read. They communicate, but they also withhold. The same can be said of Jamil Naqsh’s versions of Arabic words and phrases. The spectator cannot simply look, even if he or she can read, Arabic. The reader also has to construe, to puzzle out the meaning.

This returns us to something I have already said, but also makes us focus on a paradox. Jamil Naqsh’s ambition is to be recognized as an artist who addresses himself, not simply to an Islamic audience, but to a world audience. This audience – the majority of it – is not only non-Arabic speaking, but also illiterate in Arabic. They recognize that the signs presented to them have meaning, but cannot be sure precisely what that meaning is.

However, in the societies to which this audience belongs, a deliberately abstract or abstracted art has now been familiar for pretty well exactly a century. It is now a given that non-representational signs and gestures in paint are capable of conveying, not so much specific meanings that can be easily verbalized, but specific emotions of the sort we often (and quite traditionally) receive from music. This kind of communication is in fact so long established in civilized societies that nobody much bothers to argue about it. Minimalism, noticeably puritan in addition to being simply reductive, can be thought of as a kind of last stand against this kind of emotional communication. One nevertheless notices that Minimal works do in fact often seem to convey strong emotions despite the declared intentions of their authors, feelings of anger and contempt for the audience. While apparently seeking for universality, they embrace elitism.

Jamil Naqsh’s calligraphic paintings and drawings follow an entirely different strategy. The essentially focus is not on the magical power of the artist’s personality – a path followed by Western art from the time of the Renaissance, which perhaps first manifests itself in the biographies of Michelangelo written during the artist’s own lifetime, and which is evident in much of the art of our own day – but on the power of the mysterious sign. The artist subjects himself to the sign, and tries to tease out its meanings for those who, in the most literal sense, cannot read.

This, of course, offers a link to the story of the beginnings of the Qu’ran – the very first step towards the creation, or should one say the reception, of the sacred text. The angel seizes the spectator, who protests that he cannot read. Seizes him, and forces him to read.

Edward Lucie-SmithArt Historian, Critic & Author


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Plate 1 | oil on canvas 122 x 91 cm (48 x 36 in)

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Plate 31 | oil on panel 41 x 41 cm (16 x 16 in)


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Plate 237 | acrylic on paper 28 x 18 cm (11 x 7 in)


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VERSES IN PRAISE OF GOD

In this section there are fifty paintings that are subtly different from those based on the ’99 Names of God’ that follow them. They speak of Allah, but their function is to praise, rather than simply to name. That is, the basis of the image is a dynamic response to the name of God, where the sacred name is placed in a context. The context is a sura, or a fragment of a sura taken from the Qu’ran. This allows for a more elaborate and complex development of visual imagery based on the movements of the artist’s hand.

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JAMIL NAQSH AND THE 99 NAMES OF GOD

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All three of the world’s great monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – place great emphasis on the word, not only as the carrier of faith, the bird that flies into the heart, but also as the place where belief is most fully located. The opening sentence of the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of St John, declares that ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ It is, however, Islam that places perhaps the most emphasis on the idea that the word itself is the truest locus, the place where divinity is located.

This emphasis seems to come, in part at least, from the special characteristics of Arabic script. It is worth quoting here a passage from a recent authoritative book on Arabic calligraphy:“Antecedent to the calligraphic line, the expression of a sentence from some other source (here the Qur’an) requires to be spelled, to be re-articulated according to calligraphic requirements. This makes it irreconcilably different from the process of linear reading: the text is presented first, then gradually withdrawn, like musical variations on a theme. The effect of calligraphy is to disturb the course of the text. It emanates from language and returns to it, coming and going, as it were, at one remove from it.”1

The ‘99 Names of God’, presented here in new versions by the major Islamic artist Jamil Naqsh, offer a particularly rich and complex example of this process, or series of processes. Jamil Naqsh is a trained calligrapher, He fully understands the traditions of Arabic script. I say ‘traditions’ in the plural because Arabic writing styles, both the letter forms themselves and the way in which these forms are linked together, has traditions that are more structured than similar traditions in the West, perhaps because Western letter forms became dependent much earlier, not on the movements of the hand, but on printing.

An additional layer of complexity is added, in Naqsh’s case, by his very specific and personal cultural inheritance. Born in Uttar Pradesh, a region of India rich in things inherited from the Mughal Empire, he migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition, when the Indian subcontinent split into two (later to be three) nations. He trained both in an art school founded by the British, and also with a master working in forms inherited from the Mughal court. As a young man he felt the impact of the books

and magazines illustrating the latest developments in Western art – publications that, by the middle of the 20th century, were becoming available not only in Europe and the United States, but also globally. And eventually he made the decision to settle in London. Culturally he is a citizen of the world in the fullest sense of that perhaps over-used term. The result, in this series, is an exceedingly rich layering. The painting drawing on a wide variety of sources and personal experiences – they are the product of a citizen of the world, but one who remains keenly aware of his Islamic background.

The tradition of the ’99 Names’ is, of course, more complicated and (perhaps intentionally) more ambiguous than it would seem to be at first sight. The Prophet invoked Allah by a number of descriptive names, which attribute different functions and qualities to the Supreme Being, without excluding others. A Sunni hadith indeed reports that there are 99 canonical names, but the list has always been to some extent disputed. It exists in different versions, though with much that overlaps. Therefore the 99 Names are also, paradoxically, often more than that number. In addition, there is the fact that the names are essentially otiose. The word Allah encompasses them all, whichever list one chooses. However, the descriptions also have a function. Memorizing and reciting them enables the devotee to focus on the nature of the Divine, facet by facet, when it is impossible to encompass all aspects of divinity at once. The worshipper uses the recitation to attempt to grasp what is ungraspable. The names are therefore tools, in addition to being descriptions.


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If one looks at Jamil Naqsh’s ‘Names’ series in this light, what one discerns is precisely that gradual withdrawal that experts on Arabic calligraphy describe, a ‘disturbance’ of the course of the text. We are invited to read, but the full significance then slips away, and we are forced to re-read. Only after a period of contemplation does the spectator achieve that may appear to be the full meaning of the text. Yet, even then, that fuller meaning begins to elude him again. There is a perpetual dynamic going on.

In a sense, however, this dynamic ambiguity is the function of the visual image, as opposed to that of the written word. Visual images function in a different way from the pure, stripped-to-its-essentials logos. Visual images, as Western contemporary artists tend to forget, by their very nature go beyond language. One does not have to be able to read Arabic, or Arabic script (which of course is also used for other languages, such as Persian and Urdu). Language can actually be a barrier to understanding, as the old story of the Tower of Babel makes clear.

When one considers the recent history of contemporary art – a form of expression that increasingly struggles to maintain avant-garde credentials as these are defined (rather crudely, I think) by Western critics and curators, one increasingly notices the creative contribution being made by non-Western scripts, which tend to contain a pictorial element that is absent from Western alphabets. Arabic script differs from Chinese ideograms in an important respect – ideograms are in fact condensed and stylized pictures, and this element is absent in Arabic, although Arabic writing can be used playfully to construct stylized images

of things that exist in the external world. A skilled calligrapher can make of an animal or a flower. What Arabic script can do is to supply a portal, the entry point to a realm of the imagination that cannot be defined in words alone. Jamil Naqsh’s versions of the ’99 Names’ do not merely spell out a meaning – they invite both meditation and speculation. As spectator, you both bring something to them, and also take something – a gift of the spirit – away.

Edward Lucie SmithArt Historian, Critic & Author

1 Albdekebir Khatibi & Mohammed Sijelmassi, The Splendour of Islamic Calligraphy, 2nd revised edition, Thames & Hudson, London 1996, p.91Watercolour | 1996 | Private Collection

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1Ar-RahmanThe Compassionateoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

2Ar-RahimThe Mercifuloil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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4Al-Quddus

The Holyoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

3Al-Malik

The Sovereignoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

200

5As-SalamThe Source Of Peaceoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

6Al-Mu’minThe Giver Of Faithoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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8Al-’Aziz

The Almightyoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

7Al-MuhayminThe Protectoroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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9Al-JabbarThe Irresistibleoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

10Al-MutakabbirThe Superboil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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12Al-Bari

The Makeroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

11Al-Khaliq

The Creatoroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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13Al-MusawwirThe Shaperoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

14Al-GhaffarThe Forgivingoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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16Al-Wahhab

The Bestoweroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

15Al-Qahhar

The Dominantoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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17Al-RazzaqThe Provideroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

18Al-FattahThe Openeroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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20Al-Qabid

The Seizeroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

19Al-’Alim

The All-Knowingoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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21Al-BasitThe Expanderoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

22Al-KhafidThe Abaseroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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24Al-Mu’izz

The Honoureroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

23Al-Rafi’

The Exalteroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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25Al-MudhillThe Dishonoureroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

26As-SamiThe All-Hearingoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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28Al-Hakam

The Judgeoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

27Al-Basir

The All-Seeingoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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29Al-AdlThe Justoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

30Al-LatifThe Graciousoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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32Al-Halim

The Kindlyoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

31Al-Khabir

The Awareoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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33Al-’AzimThe Great Oneoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

34Al-GhafurThe Pardoneroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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36Al-’Aliy

The Sublimeoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

35Ash-Shakur

The Appreciativeoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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37Al-KabirThe Greatoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

38Al-HafizThe Guardianoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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40Al-Hasib

The Reckoneroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

39Al-Muqit

The Maintaineroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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41Al-JalilThe Gloriousoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

42Al-KarimThe Generousoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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44Al-Mujib

The Responsiveoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

43Ar-Raqib

The Watchfuloil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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45Al-Wasi’The All-Embracingoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

46Al-HakimThe Wiseoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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48Al-Majid

The Gloriousoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

47Al-Wadud

The Lovingoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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49Al-Ba’ithThe Resurrectoroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

50Ash-ShahidThe Witnessoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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52Al-Wakil

The Trusteeoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

51Al-Haqq

The Truthoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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53Al-QawiyThe Strongoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

54Al-MatinThe Firmoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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56Al-Hamid

The Praiseworthyoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

55Al-Waliy

The Patronoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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57Al-MuhsiThe Counteroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

58Al-MubdiThe Founderoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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60Al-Muhyi

The Giver Of Lifeoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

59Al-Mu’id

The Restoreroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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61Al-MumitThe Giver Of Deathoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

62Al-HayyThe Ever Livingoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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64Al-Wajid

The Self-Reliantoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

63Al-Qayyum

The Self-Subsistentoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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65Al-MajidThe Gloriousoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

66Al-WahidThe Oneoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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68As-SamadThe Etenal

oil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

67Al-Ahad

The Onlyoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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69Al-QadirThe Capableoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

70Al-MuqtadirThe Prevaileroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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72Al-Mu’akhkhir

The Delayeroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

71Al-Muqaddim

The Bringing Forwardoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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73Al-AwwalThe Firstoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

74Al-AkhirThe Lastoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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76Al-Batin

The Inneroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

75Az-Zahir

The Evidentoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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77Al-WaliThe Protectoroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

78Al-Muta’aliThe Self-Exaltedoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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80At-Tawwab

The Accepter Of Repentanceoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

79Al-Barr

The Beneficialoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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81Al-MuntaqimThe Avengeroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

82Al-AfuwThe Forgivingoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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84Maliku’l-Mulk

The Possessor Of The Kingdomoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

83Ar-Ra’uf

The Gentleoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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85Dhul’l-Jalal Wa’l-IkramThe Lord Of Majesty And Generosityoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

86Al-MuqsitThe Justoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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88Al-Ghani

The Self-Sufficientoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

87Al-Jami’

The Gathereroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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89Al-MughniThe Enricheroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

90Al-Mani’The Preventeroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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92An-Nafi’

The Profiteroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

91Ad-Dar

The Distresseroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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93An-NurThe Lightoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

94Al-HadiThe Guideoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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96Al-Baqi

The Everlastingoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

95Al-Badi’

The Organiseroil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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97Al-WarithThe Inheritoroil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

98Ar-RashidThe Guideoil on canvas 25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

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100Allah

The Godoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

99As-Sabur

The Forbearingoil on canvas

25 x 30 cm (10 x 12 in)

Angel III oil on canvas 152 x 102 cm (60 x 40 in)

Angel I | oil on canvas 102 x 152 cm (40 x 60 in)

Angel II | oil on canvas 102 x 152 cm (40 x 60 in)

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1939 25 December, Born in Kairana Uttar Paradesh, India1953 Studied Indian miniature painting with the late Ustad Mohammad Sharif, National Collage of Arts, Lahore

Honours and Awards

2009 Awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz - Pakistan2003 Jamil Naqsh; A Retrospective, An extensive retrospective exhibition at Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi (to date the only artist to have been thus honoured in his lifetime) 1989 Pride of Performance Award, Pakistan 1989 Pursuit of ‘Excellence Award, The Artist Association of Punjab, Pakistan1982 Contribution of 20 years as 2 painter, Arts Council of Pakistan1980 Shakir Ali Award, Ministry of Culture, Government of Pakistan1968 First prize, national competition by Hamdard National Foundation for poster design to find a cure for cancer, for display and distribution by W.H.O1962 Gold Medal, Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi1961 First prize, Women’s International Club, Karachi

Solo Exhibitions

2012 Jamil Naqsh: Homage to Picasso, Albemarle Gallery, London Jamil Naqsh: Doves and Pigeons, Albemarle Gallery, London2011 A Retrospective, Albemarle Gallery, London2010 Pigeons and a slice of light, Momart art Gallery, Capital Club, Dubai Pigeons and a slice of light, Momart art Gallery and Jamil Naqsh Museum, Karachi2009 Homage to Picasso, Momart art Gallery and Jamil Naqsh Museum, Karachi2008 Homage to Picasso, Nitanjali Art Gallery, at Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise de Delhi2005 Studio Glass Art Gallery, London2003 Jamil Naqsh: A Retrospective, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi Jamil Naqsh for Najmi Sura, private collection of Najmi Sura, Jamil Naqsh Museum and Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2001 Magic of the Line, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Jamil Naqsh Museum, Karachi1999 Jamil Naqsh Museum, formal inauguration, Karachi1998 Homage to Marino Marini, Jamil Naqsh Museum and Momart Art Gallery, Karachi1997 Mother and Child, dedicated to Dr. Faridon Setna, a private viewing hosted by Meher and Husain Sheriff, Trustees ofj Jamil Naqsh Foundation1996 Private viewing hosted by Amina and Jehangir Tareen, Trustees of Jamil Naqsh Foundation, Lahore Modern Manuscripts, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Beyond Words, The Art Gallery, lslamabad Homage to Marino Marini, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Jamil Naqsh Foundation and Museum, established in Karachi1971 Pakistan Arts Gallery, Karachi1967 Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi1965 The Pak-Brazil Friendship Association, Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi1963 Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi1962 Pakistan Arts Council, Lahore

Jamil Naqsh & Edward Lucie-Smith

1939 25 December, Born in Kairana Uttar Paradesh, India1953 Studied Indian miniature painting with the late Ustad Mohammad Sharif, National Collage of Arts, Lahore

Honours and Awards

2009 Awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz - Pakistan2003 Jamil Naqsh; A Retrospective, An extensive retrospective exhibition at Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi (to date the only artist to have been thus honoured in his lifetime) 1989 Pride of Performance Award, Pakistan 1989 Pursuit of ‘Excellence Award, The Artist Association of Punjab, Pakistan1982 Contribution of 20 years as 2 painter, Arts Council of Pakistan1980 Shakir Ali Award, Ministry of Culture, Government of Pakistan1968 First prize, national competition by Hamdard National Foundation for poster design to find a cure for cancer, for display and distribution by W.H.O1962 Gold Medal, Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi1961 First prize, Women’s International Club, Karachi

Solo Exhibitions

2011 A Retrospective, Albemarle Gallery, London2010 Pigeons and a slice of light, Momart art Gallery, Capital Club, Dubai Pigeons and a slice of light, Momart art Gallery and Jamil Naqsh Museum, Karachi2009 Homage to Picasso, Momart art Gallery and Jamil Naqsh Museum, Karachi2008 Homage to Picasso, Nitanjali Art Gallery, at Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise de Delhi2005 Studio Glass Art Gallery, London2003 Jamil Naqsh: A Retrospective, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi Jamil Naqsh for Najmi Sura, private collection of Najmi Sura, Jamil Naqsh Museum and Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2001 Magic of the Line, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Jamil Naqsh Museum, Karachi1999 Jamil Naqsh Museum, formal inauguration, Karachi1998 Homage to Marino Marini, Jamil Naqsh Museum and Momart Art Gallery, Karachi1997 Mother and Child, dedicated to Dr. Faridon Setna, a private viewing hosted by Meher and Husain Sheriff, Trustees ofj Jamil Naqsh Foundation1996 Private viewing hosted by Amina and Jehangir Tareen, Trustees of Jamil Naqsh Foundation, Lahore Modern Manuscripts, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Beyond Words, The Art Gallery, lslamabad Homage to Marino Marini, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Jamil Naqsh Foundation and Museum, established in Karachi1971 Pakistan Arts Gallery, Karachi1967 Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi1965 The Pak-Brazil Friendship Association, Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi1963 Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi1962 Pakistan Arts Council, Lahore

Jamil Naqsh & Edward Lucie-Smith

Jamil Naqsh | 2013 | London

Special Projects

1977 Mural executed in oil on canvas for the Shakir Ali Museum, Lahore1974 Mural executed in oil on canvas for the Cancer Society of Pakistan, Karachi, for display and distribution by [he1973 Calligraphy executed in oil on canvas for the Hamdard National Foundation1960/8 Served as co-editor of Seep Urdu Literary Quarterly and Arts lnternational 1970-73 President, Pakistan Painters Guild

Group Exhibitions

2012 Nude, Albemarle Gallery, London2007 Rhythms of Illumination, Nitanjali Art Gallery, Grand Hyatt, Dubai Resplendent Reveries, Nitanjali Art Gallery, Grand Hyatt, Dubai Uninterrupted Journeys, Nitanjali Art Gallery, ITC Grand Central, Mumbai2006 Euphonic Palettes - Dubai, Nitanjali Art Gallery, Grand Hyatt, Dubai Euphonic Palettes, Nitanjali Art Gallery, Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise de Delhi, sponsored by Deutsche Bank Pakistani Master’s Show, Nitanjali Art Gallery at Park Hotel, New Delhi Ibteda - The Beginning, Gandhara - Art.com (Pakistan’s virtual exhibition) Paintings and Sculptures by 45 Artists, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2005 lndian Art Unbound II, Nitanjali Art Gallery at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai Miniature Show, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2004 Modern Calligraphic Paintings & Ceramics, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2003 Recent paintings by 23 Painters, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Modern Calligraphic Paintings & Ceramics, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2002 Modern Calligraphic Paintings & Ceramics, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2001 Modern Calligraphic Paintings & Ceramics, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi2000 Water Colour by 20 Painters, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Paintings by 15 Painters, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi1999 Recent Paintings by 20 Painters, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi1998 Drawings, Prints & Etchings, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Modern Calligraphic Paintings & Ceramics, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi1997 Modern Calligraphic Paintings & Ceramics, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi1995 Water Colour Exhibition, Momart Art Gallery, Karachi Group Show, Momart An Gallery, Karachi1992 India Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A Trivandrun and New Delhi1972 Painters from Pakistan, Pakistan National Council of Arts in Paris, London, Munich, New York, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Ghana and Sudan1970 Gallerie Christoph Durr, Munich, West Germany1964 Painters from Pakistan, Ceylon1963 Painters from Pakistan, Nepal1953 National Art Competition, Multan

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Enriching Life

Sponsored by:

EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH




Supported by:


jamil naqsh the painted word

Documents

albemarle jamil naqshthe

albemarle gallerydesign

art books

praise of god text

names of god text

praise of god plate

wordjamil naqshthe

known art critic