Bashir Mirza (1941 – 19 January 2000), also known as BM, was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

painter artist.

Early life and education

Born in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1941, Mirza joined the Mayo School of Arts (now

National College of Arts The National College of Arts (colloquially known as NCA) is a public university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Overview The National College of Arts – Federally Chartered Institute, is the oldest art school in Pakistan and the second ...

(NCA),

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, where he was one of Shakir Ali's favorite students of art. Shakir Ali was the ''principal'' at the National College of Arts in Lahore at that time. Bashir graduated in 1962 from the department of design and was amongst the first batch of graduates of the renamed school.NCA and Stamp Design, Exhibition Souvenir, Lahore 2000, p. 6

Career

He never stayed for long with one theme or style, fluctuating between realistic, abstract and non-objective styles. Mirza looked out for new ventures of earning a living. He opened up an art gallery (the first ever in Karachi) at Kutchery Road in 1965 but in 1969 left town to go abroad. He also published an Art Journal called ''Artistic Pakistan'' but in 1968 sold it off. Marjorie Husain, an art critic and writer of Bashir Mirza's biography, 'The Last of the Bohemians- Bashir Mirza' (2006) called the artist "innovative and brilliant who emerged as one of the best among his generation of the painters of the 1960s." According to her, Bashir was outspoken, fearless but had great respect for the talent of his peers. He exhibited his controversial "Lonely Girl" painting series in 1971. The "Lonely Girl" painting series was shown and gifted to the Seoul Olympic Art Museum when he was invited by the Seoul Olympic Committee. His exhibition "DAWN OF DEMOCRACY" was inaugurated by Begum Nusrat Bhutto and sporadic highs and lows followed in his career. In 1994, Mirza departed for Australia as Pakistan's

cultural attaché Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

. But he soon got tired of the diplomatic life and returned to Pakistan in 1996. By then he was also sick. On his return, he opened up an art gallery and an advertising agency in Karachi. There were subsequent lukewarm exhibitions, the latest being at Chawkandi in August 1999 just months before his death on 19 January 2000.

Stamp design

Mirza designed two stamps of the 1963 stamp series "Freedom from Hunger" for the Pakistan Postal Services.

Postage stamp

On 14 August 2006, Pakistan Post office issued a Rs. 40 sheetlet of stamps to posthumously honour 10 Pakistani Painters. Besides Bashir Mirza, the other 9 painters are: Laila Shahzada, Zubeida Agha, Sadequain, Ali Imam (painter artist), Shakir Ali, Anna Molka Ahmed, Zahoor ul Akhlaq, Ahmed Pervez and Askari Mian Irani.

Awards

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

(1994) by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Painters of Pakistan: Latest stamp series
Business Recorder (newspaper), Published 26 August 2006, Retrieved 7 October 2020ART FACTS: A new beginning and inspiring ideas
Business Recorder (newspaper), Published 31 May 2014, Retrieved 7 October 2020Bashir Mirza's profile and Pride of Performance award info listed on Dawn (newspaper)
Published 20 January 2007, Retrieved 7 October 2020

References

External links

* Auctions https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16393/lot/58/?category=list {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza, Bashir 1941 births 2000 deaths People from Amritsar Pakistani stamp designers National College of Arts alumni Recipients of the Pride of Performance 20th-century Pakistani painters Artists from Karachi Pakistani painters Pakistani artists People from Punjab Province (British India)