| Ijaz-ul-Hassan is without question the most formidably talented and articulate of modern painters working in Pakistan. His academic qualifications are unimpeachable. He studied at two of the most prestigious educational institutions of Lahore – Aitchison College and then Government College – processing in the 1960s to the United Kingdom where he spent a year studying painting at St. Martin School of Art in London and three more years obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in English from St. John’s College, Cambridge. He returned to Pakistan in 1964 and joined the National College of Arts, Lahore, as Professor of Academics. At the college, he remained an active and forceful presence for over a decade. Since leaving the College, he has devoted himself to painting on a half-time basis. The presence of his works in major private and public collections here and abroad are a measure of a success and stature as a leading Pakistani painter. |
| Apart from his own preoccupation with painting, Ijaz-ul-Hassan has over twenty years monitored and documented the work of other contemporary Pakistani artists. The result of his definitive research has been published recently under the title Painting in Pakistan. |
In this interview with F.S Aijazuddin, a leading art-historian, Ijaz-ul-Hassan talks about his work as a painter and his personal often controversial perceptions on art, about his book and his latest interest – a series of prints derived from the colour reproductions appearing in his book. An exhibition of these prints was held at the Lahore Art Gallery between 12-25 November, 1991.
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| Q. |
When were you first aware of an interest in art? |
| A: |
Before I went to school I distinctly remember a box of watercolours in the house which I enjoyed playing with, which had particular aroma. My favourite colour was the alizarin red which you don’t find in any box these days. In 1948, I joined Aitchison College, my first teacher Sardar Mohammed made a significant impact on me, be it brief, and a teacher his caliber at the college ensured that the art-room was well-equipped and created an environment which encouraged us to express ourselves through painting. His successor Khalid Iqbal was extremely sensitive and through him we began to understand for the first time the significance of form, colour and design.
Following Khalid Iqbal at Aitchison College was Moyene Najmi – a teacher-cum-painter again. He did not teach technique so much as introduce us senior students to serious contemporary painters of the time like Shemza, Ali Imam and Safdar. Moyene allowed us to experiment and to innovate. |
| Q. |
Do you recall which was the first picture that you ever sold? |
| A: |
I can’t remember the first painting eversold, but I do remember selling one particular picture at the 1955 summer exhibition in Murree. It was a view of the Mall at Murree. I pasted four sheets of paper together and then painted the panel from memory. That wasn’t difficult – I had spent practically the whole summer strolling up and down the road. I knew it by heart. That picture was bought by a Dutchman for about Rs.200. |
| Q. |
After doing HSC, you joined Govt. College where you topped the Fine Arts course at the Punjab University. Did that give you the confidence to consider painting as a career? |
| A: |
Initially, I had gone in for more conventional English as I was any only child, for a secure future livelihood. However, at my insistence my parents allowed me to join Fine Arts at G.C, after graduating. |
| Q. |
You spent only a year at St. Martin’s School, London. Was there any particular reason? |
| A: |
My main grouse with St. Matin’s was the insistence of the teachers there that, as I had come from the East. I should therefore adopt a style and technique which in their eyes was traditionally and typically Eastern. Heavy lines, loud colours, the absence of perspective – elements that they associated mistakenly with oriental art. |
| Q. |
How did you maintain your interest in painting while studying English at Cambridge? |
| A: |
After that year at St. Martin’s, I had a complete reaction against painting. I did not do any painting at all throughout my three years at Cambridge. Not until I joined the National College of Arts back in Pakistan. |
| Q. |
As I recall, your paintings took on an overtly political content? |
| A: |
At one time some painters were asserting that art should have no relationship with the outside world. I felt that another point had to be made, that art is a vehicle through which one could make a statement and interact with society. I wanted to emphasis this point. An effort should be made to address a wider, more concerned audience. Most of the paintings I did during this period turned out to be larger than life in which the human figure played a central role. |
| Q. |
Wasn’t there a strong official reaction to these paintings? |
| A: |
My paintings were thrown out of official exhibitions. |
| Q. |
Did you ever feel like cutting someone’s ear off in desperation? |
| A: |
In the end some of us got to gather and established a parallel organization which side-stepped the need for official patronage and enabled dissenting artists to exhibit their works without having to crawl. We founded Pakistan Artists Equity. The Equity came to an end with the imposition of Martial Law in 1977. Currently I am the Chairman of Punjab Arts Association o Pakistan and of the National Artists Association of Pakistan. |
| Q. |
You have been a painter, a political activist and now an author. Which facet of your work would you wish to be remembered most for? |
| A: |
The work I did in the 1970s. That rally expresses my feelings, just as its imagery records the concerns of that turbulent decade. |
| Q. |
In your book you have avoided any political statement, either about your own views or those of any of the artists you have included? |
| A: |
That had to be so. Unlike those Soviet Writers who meant to have their manuscripts be published abroad, one could not afford to be too provocative and abrasive. No, my book had an essentially different purpose. It does have a conscious restraint in it, I admit. |
| Q. |
Is there any painter whose work would make you stop dead in your tracks? |
| A: |
I though I had overcome my enthusiasm for Van Gogh but the last time I went to the National Gallery in London I happened to encounter his Sunflowers and I was absolutely pulverized. Other paintings I admire are Remebrandit’s self-portrait, the dash of Leonard Kline, a bit of fruity Bonnard, a luscious odigliani, a small Monet or one of the superb miniatures by the inimitable Behzad, or the work by Jahangir’s naturalist painter Mansur. |
| Q. |
Are there any Pakistani painter that might have the same effect on you? |
| A: |
Khalid Iqbal is remarkable for his ability to record with fidelity the subtle light and tones which are particular to the Punjabi landscape. Iqbal Geoffery’s crazy post-Dada paintings, Bashir Mirza’s tremendous sense of design, Mustaza Bashir, Kibria and Rasheed Chaudhry, Jameel Naqsh’s textural richness and natunces of colours. These are the people whose work I would covet. |
| Q. |
Your work is almost arboreal in its content? |
| A: |
Trees in my paintings stand for life, for strength, for the power of the common man. |
| Q. |
You are now just over fifty. What kind of work are you planning gto do for the next fifty years? |
| A: |
I would like to continue painting in oil, even large pieces than the ones I am doing now. I would also like to tackle some smaller pieces in pastels, char-coal and crayons. Along with that I imagine myself doing things like murals in public places. |
| Q. |
You have given some rather searing titles to the prints in your latest book Charred Madonna, for one? Was this deliberate? |
| A: |
Obviously, because I could see certain patterns attach themselves to certain themes – the young bride burnt for not bringing a dowry or the woman scarred after an oil-stove explosion, or shadows in a garden. To me, each or the paintings I had used, themselves became an element for me, a vital in gradient to a fresh composition. |
