Zubeida Agha ( ur, ; 1922–1997) was among the first Pakistani

Modern Artists Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

. After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, she was the first artist to hold an exhibition of her paintings. She helped bring the modern idiom to Pakistan. (Associated Press of Pakistan
Zubeida Agha's work serves as inspiration for women painters
Daily Times (newspaper), Published 6 September 2015, Retrieved 8 October 2020Zubeida Agha - pioneer of non-traditional pictorial imagery
Pakistan Today (newspaper), Published 4 May 2011, Retrieved 8 October 2020

Early life

Zubeida Agha was born in 1922 in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan. After graduating from Kinnaird College for Women University, Lahore, she worked with painter

B. C. Sanyal Bhabesh Chandra Sanyal commonly known as B. C. Sanyal (22 April 1901 – 9 August 2003), the doyen of modernism in Indian art, was an Indian painter and sculptor and an art teacher to three generations of artists. During his lifetime he not ju ...

from 1944 to 1946. At this time, she also became well- acquainted with the works of

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. She also was influenced by the works of ''Mario Perlingeri'', an Italian prisoner of war in India at that time. The Society of Fine Arts awarded her first prize for modern painting in 1946. She joined Saint Martin's School of Art, London in 1950, later moving on to Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris in 1951. In 1961, she was appointed executive director of the Contemporary Art Gallery in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, Pakistan, receiving the President's Award for Pride of Performance in 1965.

Career

Zubeida Agha is considered as a premiere painter of Pakistan and a pioneer of modern art in the country. In the 1940s, she had the courage and determination to launch a modern style of painting. Her style of art first baffled and later overwhelmed art critics and viewers. Colourist painting is characterized by the use of intense colour. Zubeida Agha was one of the great colourist painters in the history of Pakistani painting. She uses colour not only for itself, but to lend truthfulness and depth of meaning to her images, using her amazing imagination to provoke the viewer into thought. In November 2002, a large exhibit of Zubeida Agha paintings was held at Shakir Ali Museum, Lahore.

Postage stamp

On 14 August 2006,

Pakistan Post Pakistan Post ( ur, ) is a state enterprise which functions as Pakistan's primary and largest postal operator. 49,502 employees through a vehicle fleet of 5,000 operate traditional "to the door" service from more than 13,419 post offices acro ...

issued a Rs. 40 sheetlet of stamps to posthumously honour 10 Pakistani painters. Besides Zubeida Agha, the other nine painters were: Laila Shahzada,

Askari Mian Irani Askari Mian Irani (1940 – 2004) was a Pakistani painter. Early life and education In 1967, Askari Mian Irani received a diploma in Commercial Design from the Mayo School of Arts now called National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore.NCA and St ...

, Sadequain,

Ali Imam Ali Imam (31 December 1950 – 21 November 2022) was a Bangladeshi children's writer and audio-visual organizer. He wrote many scientific stories, travel stories for children. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2001 in juvenile lit ...

, Shakir Ali,

Anna Molka Ahmed Anna Molka Ahmed (13 August 1917 – 20 April 1994) was a Pakistani artist and a pioneer of fine arts in the country after its independence in 1947. She was a professor of fine arts at the University of the Punjab in Lahore. Early life ...

, Zahoor ul Akhlaq,

Ahmed Pervez Ahmed Parvez ( ur, ) (1926 – 1979) was a modernist painter from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He was a member of The Lahore Group in Pakistan and founder of the Pakistan Group in London. He was also among the few early modernists of Pakistani ori ...

and

Bashir Mirza Bashir Mirza (1941 – 19 January 2000), also known as BM, was a Pakistani painter artist. Early life and education Born in Amritsar, British India in 1941, Mirza joined the Mayo School of Arts (now National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore ...

Legacy

Zubeida Agha is often called a torch-bearer of modern art in Pakistan. Other times she is also named 'The grande dame of Pakistani art'.(Salwat Ali
The grande dame of Pakistani art
Dawn (newspaper), Published 25 January 2015, Retrieved 8 October 2020 Her work is on permanent display at the

National Art Gallery List of national galleries is a list of national art galleries. {{tocright Africa *Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa *National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia The Americas *Galería Nacional, San Juan, Puerto ...

of Pakistan National Council of the Arts in Islamabad, Pakistan.

is displaying some works of Pakistani legends of visual art on permanent basis to serve as inspiration and to educate the coming generations.

References

External links

Ten Great Painters Stamps by Pakistan PostZubeida Agha archive, hosted at Asia Art Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agha, Zubeida 1922 births 1997 deaths Recipients of the Pride of Performance 20th-century Pakistani painters Pakistani women artists 20th-century women artists Pakistani women painters