Esther Rahim (25 June 1904 – 31 March 1963), also known as Esmet Rahim, was a Pakistani painter.Art of Living
by Marjorie Hussain in Dawn Books and Authors 24 December 2006. Retrieved 03 August 2010.

Early life and education

Born Esther Joesten in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

(now

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

), she was the first child of Joseph Joesten (a doctor) and his wife, Amalia (a painter). At the age of eighteen, she started studying art in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

and took courses in sculpture under Bourdelle in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1929, she obtained a Ph.D. from

Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

in psychology.

Married life

In 1929, she married

Jalaludin Abdur Rahim Jalaluddin Abdur Rahim ( Urdu: جلال الدين عبدالرحيم; Bengali: জালালুদ্দিন আবদুর রহিম; also known as J. A. Rahim) (27 July 1906 – 1977) was a Bengali communist and political philosopher ...

(a.k.a. J A Rahim, one of the founding members of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

), who was continuing his

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

studies after having obtained a degree at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Together with her husband, who joined the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

, she travelled to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1931. Her first child, named Razia, was born in 1932. With her husband, she moved to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1936 and to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

after the birth of her son Sikander in 1939. The couple were divorced in 1945. Nevertheless, she followed her former husband to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. In 1952, she left Egypt to settle in Europe, where she remarried her former husband and settled in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) before her husband was transferred to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

(

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

). In 1955, Esther Rahim moved to

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

(

) where her husband became the Pakistan Ambassador to Germany. When her husband became ambassador to France in 1962, she once again followed him, this time to Paris. Esther suffered from heart disease in the last two years of her life, and died in 1963.

Artist

Esther Rahim was a founding member of the

Karachi Arts Council The Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi is a council for the promotion of arts and culture in Pakistan, and one of the busiest in terms of organizing events. It is the country's oldest NGO (non-government organization) for the promotion and develo ...

. As an enthusiastic patron of block printed textiles, her patronage contributed to their revival and survival in

during the 1950s. Many of Rahim's artworks were not recognized in her lifetime due to social mores. However, 70 to 80 of her works have been published in the book 'Travels Mundane and Surreal: The Art of Esther Rahim', compiled by her son Sikandar Rahim and fellow artist

Salima Hashmi Salima Hashmi ( ur, ; born 1942) is a Pakistani painter artist, former college professor, anti-nuclear weapons activist and former caretaker minister in Sethi caretaker ministry. She has served for four years as a professor and the dean of Nati ...

Early life and education

Married life

Artist

References

Further reading