Zahoor ul Akhlaq

Zahoor ul Akhlaq (4 February 1941 – 18

January 1999) was a pioneering artist
from Pakistan. He is known for his
approach to painting, sculpture, design
and architecture, as well as his teaching at
the NCA (National College of Arts) in
Lahore.[1]
Background and family life
Born in Delhi, India in 1941, he was the
eldest in a family of 11 children.[2] His
family moved to Lahore after the
independence of Pakistan in 1947,
eventually settling in Karachi, Pakistan.
Akhlaq attended the Sindh Madrassah
(now called Sindh Madressatul Islam
University) as a young boy and went to
study art in Lahore at the Mayo School of
Arts (now called National College of Arts)
back in 1958.[3]

Pakistani painter Shakir Ali was teaching

art there as a professor back then. Shakir
Ali encouraged him greatly in his art
studies. Zahoor graduated from this
college in 1962 and he then started
teaching at the same college in the Fine
Arts Department. Shakir Ali heavily
influenced him to learn the Cubist style
and other modern ideas of that time.[3]

In 1971, he married Sheherezade Alam, a

potter, and the couple had two daughters,
Jahanara (1974–1999) and Nurjahan
(born 1979).

Education
1958–62, National Diploma in Fine Art;
National College of Arts – Lahore,
 Pakistan[3]
1966–67, Post graduate studies:
Hornsey College of Art, London[3]
1968–69, post graduate studies: Royal
College of Arts, London[3]
1987 -89, post doctoral studies:
Fulbright Research Fellowship at the
Yale Institute of Sacred Music; Religion
and the Arts and at Yale School of Art,
Yale University, United States.[4]

Death
Akhlaq, and his elder daughter, Jahanara,
were shot dead in their Lahore home on 18
January 1999, by a visiting acquaintance,
Shahzad Butt, a roti merchant of the city.
The killer could give no reason for having
turned his gun on them.[4]

Work and influences

Akhlaq's painting invoked a dialogue
between modernist abstraction and many
traditional forms and practices found
within South Asia (including Mughal
Miniature painting, calligraphy and
vernacular architecture). At a time when
his contemporaries in South Asia were
developing their work within a modernist
tradition, or had primitivist leanings, he
eschewed both schools by merging his
interest in abstractions with traditional and
vernacular practices. Although he evaded
the label of an abstract artist, his work
mostly fits this definition.[4][5]

Akhlaq's influences are from a vast range

of sources, which include painting,
literature, philosophy, Sufism, dance, and
music. His teaching and practice is
considered to have had a significant
impact on a generation of Contemporary
Pakistani art and artists. Zahoor ul Akhlaq
is best known for pioneering the
contemporary miniature painting in
Pakistan.[1]
Selected shows
1964 National exhibition, Lahore
1962 Solo exhibition, Karachi National
Exhibition, Rawalpindi
1963 'Communication Through Art',
Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Dhaka
(Pakistan and Bangladesh)
Solo exhibition, Karachi
1965 RCD Biennale, Tehran (Iran), 2nd
position prize
National exhibition of arts, Dhaka
Solo exhibition, Art Galleries, Rawalpindi
Joint exhibition, Ministry of Culture, Now
York and Montreal
1967 Museum of Modern Arts; Paris
Also four exhibitions in London and
Oxford, England.
1969 Lahore Museum
Post graduate show, Royal College of
Art, London
1970 'Painting in Pakistan', travelling
exhibition, 26 countries
1974 Solo exhibition, Pakistan Arts
Council, Karachi
1975 'Graphics In Pakistan', Italy
1976 São Paulo Biennale (Brazil)
1981 Solo exhibition, Pakistan National
Council of the Arts, Islamabad
1982 Hershorn Museum, Washington
D.C.
'Thirty Five Years of Painting in Punjab',
Lahore Asian Festival; Tokyo
1983 Represented Pakistan in Asian
Festival of Art, Dhaka
1988 joint exhibition, Yale Institute of
Sacred Music, Religion and the Arts,
Yale University (USA)
1989 Solo exhibition, Yale University
Solo exhibition, Galerie Mont Calm Hull,
Canada
Solo exhibitions at Rohtas Gallery,
Islamabad in 1982, 1990, 1992
 Solo exhibitions at Chowkundi Gallery,
Karachi, in 1986, 1990, 1991 and 1993
Solo exhibition at The Ziggurat Gallery,
Karachi, in 1990.

Designs
Zahoor ul Akhlaq played an important role
in the establishment of the Indus Valley
School of Art and Architecture in
Karachi.[1] The logo of the Indus Valley
School of Art and Architecture was
designed by him.[6][1] In 1981, he designed
2 of a set of 5 stamps issued to mark the
Third Islamic Summit Conference at
Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Both designs (40
paisas and Re 1) depicted an Afghan
refugee girl.

Academic appointments
1963–91 Lecturer in Art, then Assistant
Professor, Associate Professor and
finally full Professor of Art and Head of
Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts,
National College of Arts, Lahore from
1979 until his retirement
1991–'92 Visiting Professor at the
Department of Fine Arts, Bilkent
University, Ankara, Turkey
1994–'95 Visiting Professor, Ontario
College of Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Memorials
An art gallery at the National College of
Arts, Lahore is named in his memory as is
the gallery at the Indus Valley School of
Art and Architecture, Karachi.

Commemorative postage
stamp issued
On 14 August 2006, Pakistan Post issued
a Rs. 40 sheetlet to posthumously honour
10 Pakistani Painters. Besides Zahoor ul
Akhlaq, the other 9 painters are: Laila
Shahzada, Askari Mian Irani, Sadequain, Ali
Imam, Shakir Ali, Anna Molka Ahmed,
Zubeida Agha, Ahmed Pervez and Bashir
Mirza.[7]

Award
Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence)
Award in 2006 by the President of
Pakistan. Posthumously awarded in
recognition of his contribution to the
arts and education.[8]

References
1. KARACHI: Artist Zahoor ul Akhlaq
remembered (https://www.dawn.com/
news/978167) Dawn (newspaper),
Published 20 January 2009, Retrieved
28 February 2019
2. Zahoor ul Akhlaq on asiasociety.org
website (http://sites.asiasociety.org/h
angingfire/zahoor-ul-akhlaq/)
Published 10 September 2009,
Retrieved 27 February 2019
3. "Archived Profile of Zahoor ul Akhlaq
(Ten Great Painters Stamps by
Pakistan Post)" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20080121080946/http://www.l
ailashahzada.com/Recognition/Stamp
s/ZahoorulAkhlaque/Default.aspx) .
Archived from the original (http://www.
lailashahzada.com/Recognition/Stam
ps/ZahoorulAkhlaque/Default.aspx)
 on 21 January 2008. Retrieved
27 February 2019.
4. Profile of Zahoor ul Akhlaq on
saffronart.com website (https://www.s
affronart.com/artists/zahoor-ul-akhla
q) Retrieved 28 February 2019
5. "Postmodernism: Recent
Developments in Art in Pakistan and
Bangladesh" (https://www.metmuseu
m.org/toah/hd/pmpk/hd_pmpk.htm) .
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New
York) website. October 2004. Retrieved
28 February 2019.
6. Rediscovering Zahoor ul Akhlaq (1941
- 1999) (http://www.razarumi.com/redi
 scovering-zahoor-ul-akhlaq-1941-199
9/) razarumi.com website, Published
3 February 2009, Retrieved 27
February 2019
7. "Ten Great Painters Stamps by
Pakistan Post Office (includes Zahoor
ul Akhlaq)" (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20070331115115/http://www.pakp
ost.gov.pk/stamps2006.html) .
Archived from the original (http://www.
pakpost.gov.pk/stamps2006.html) on
31 March 2007. Retrieved 27 February
2019.
8. 182 Pakistan Civil Awards conferred (h
ttp://fp.brecorder.com/2006/03/20060
 324402039/) Business Recorder
(newspaper), Published 24 March
2006, Retrieved 27 February 2019

External links
Zahoor ul Akhlaq Profile (http://www.saf
fronart.com/artists/zahoor-ul-akhlaq)
Ten Great Painters Stamps by Pakistan
Post Archived copy (https://web.archive.
org/web/20070928001618/http://www.l
ailashahzada.com/Recognition/Stamp
s/Default.aspx)
National College of Arts, Lahore -
homepage (http://www.nca.edu.pk/)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Zahoor_ul_Akhlaq&oldid=1119306920"

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