Pervaiz Munir Alvi
Iqbal Hussain (1950- ) is often termed as the ‘controversial artist of Pakistan’. Although he is equally masterful in painting landscape and still life, yet he is best known for his portraits–mostly portraits of women that is.
He paints his landscape in romantic hues of dusty pink and soft blue and because of that has been called “Turner/Monet of the Punjab Landscape School”. But in contrast to his style of landscape he chooses to paint his women in bright colors under full light with purposeful brush strokes. He is an impressionist and a realist at the same time. It appears as if intentionally, in his impressionism style landscapes he takes his viewers to a retreat of romantic dreams, but in his portraits in a clear opposition, he forces his viewers to see life in its stark realities.
So what is controversial about the art of Iqbal Hussain? Nothing really if you ask any art critic. An artist and his art could be escapist and realist at the same time. What makes him ‘controversial’, and that is mostly within Pakistan, are not his contrasting artistic styles but his conscious choice of female models and the way he presents them. Iqbal Hussain as a realist does not exaggerate or minimize the physical characters of his subjects like say Picasso would.
He paints his women the way they are in their real life. He just happens to show the side of life we wish not to acknowledge existing in our midst.
His fault is that he brings out in the open the ‘controversies’ that already exist within our societal norms and values; an act for which ‘respectable’ society has termed him as a ‘controversial’ artist. He is controversial because his women do not depict our perceived image of our self. We would like to think that his class of women does not exist in our Pakistan.
Because of his choice of female models, Iqbal Hussain like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) is called a “painter of prostitutes and dancing girls”.
Most of his models are the ‘professionals’ from Shahi Mahalla of Lahore whom he is either related to or he knows them personally. The famous red light district of Lahore is his Montmartre and Pigalle. His home is his Moulin Rouge.
But unlike Henri his girls are not shown in dancing forms, lifting their skirts, and exposing their legs and petticoats. Iqbal’s women are not nude or semi-naked or involved in some illicit acts as their profession might suggest. They are not even dancing suggestively or posing provocatively as they do during their work hours.
They are mostly some unknown and unremarkable women of modest looks and appearance. They are just there as they are in their real life; fully clothed stout women, sitting, squatting and with their blank eyes and resigned looks staring at the artist or simply at the empty air in front of them.
Ah, but they are the prostitutes from that ‘bazaar’ and that’s what is ‘controversial’ about Iqbal and his portraits. Iqbal’s women, unlike most respectable Pakistani women do not have their heads and bosoms covered with dopattas and chadors of ‘modesty’. They are bare footed and without the shoes of ‘respectability’. But what troubles us most in Iqbal’s women is the fact that they silently poke our conscience and raise questions about the otherwise obvious hypocrisy of our society.
They raise the questions that ‘respectable’ Pakistani society rather not to ask of it self. And that is what makes Iqbal Hussain so ‘controversial’!
Source:
Contemporary Painting in Pakistan, 1992.
By Professor Marcella Nesom Sirhandi, Ph.D.
Ferozsons, Lahore, Pakistan
well mr.Iqbal hussain is a brave and bold artist from pakistan….
Glad to see this. Iqbal is an important artist. I hope ATP will write more about art.
What a topic: Proses! I had a chance to pass a few days in Shahi Mohallah in the neighborhood of a ‘randi’. What surprised me when a senior randi would cry out in the morning lashing at the young ones to get up as the ’saaoos’ (gentlemen customers) have already come. I always wondered how saoos could become customers of kanjars and how Shahi Mohallah could flourish in the shadows of the Shahi Masjid?
But, as Ghalib said:
“Bhoun paas qiblah-e-haajat chahieye
Masjid ke zere saaya kharrafat chahiey ”
I wonder when every thing, even cricket, has been commercialized why not sex be done so especially in the sex-starved society of Pakland or are we animals who need nothing more than ‘Roti, kaprha aur makan’?
Thanks for your post — Pakistan has a really vibrant art scene — particularly in painting and its great that this subject is beginning to get featured on ATP. Visually, I am not a huge fan of Iqbal Hussain’s work, but appreciate what he’s trying to achieve and have found some pieces do work, but end up flat after one has spent enough time gazing. Anyhow, I hope this subject matter continues to flourish on ATP.
Shirjeel, we have not “lost” anyone.
Iqbal is alive and doing very well. He actually does very well financially also and his paintings have a great audience and sale in Pakistan as well as abroad.
We have lost a great artist. While the article was mostly about his paintings of various women, I have seen his other work depicting Lahore old monuments which is great too.
Hina mentioned about his house in Hira Mandi next to a mosque. If I am not wrong, then that place is now home to Lahore famous restaurant ‘Cuckoo’s nest”. A visit to that place for a dinner should be on one’s agenda when visiting Lahore. Food is marvellous, nice view of the brightly lit Badshahi mosque and one would also get a chance to see some of Iqbal’s work displayed there.
Many years ago, by chance I listened to Wustullahs interview with Iqbal Hussain on the BBC website and it was an experience. It was one of Wusats finer works. During the short interview, great Amanat Ali Khans Mausam Badla played in the background as Iqbal, in his raw, rustic and at times blunt, style talked about the subject of his paintings, the students at NCA (national college of arts where he taught) majority of whom came from humble backgrounds and wanted to emulate the so called elites of Pakistan and chose abstract just for that purpose, and the Zia era ban on his paintings. (Now by the way his paintings, I am told, are hung at the PM and the President houses, talk about Ghulam Abbas short story Annandi!). He even talked about Amanat Ali, whose roots go back to that area. In Urdu, the subject of his strokes was described as aik dhalti umar kee bhaddi twaif jis key chehrey pur udaasee hey roughly translated an aging unattractive prostitute who had sadness on her face. His account of a couple of such women was heartrending as he described how they took potent sedative pills just to be able to leave the house for work and forget what they had to do.