Modernism and the Art of Muslim South Asia

356 Pages·2010·116.728 MB·English

by  Dadi, Iftikhar

M
odernism
and the art
of muslim
south asia
IslamIc
cIvIlIzatIon
& muslIm
networks
Carl W. Ernst &
Bruce B. Lawrence,
editors
M
odernism
and the art of
muslim south asia
iftikhar dadi
(cid:107)(cid:95)(cid:92)(cid:23)(cid:108)(cid:101)(cid:96)(cid:109)(cid:92)(cid:105)(cid:106)(cid:96)(cid:107)(cid:112)(cid:23)(cid:102)(cid:93)(cid:23)(cid:101)(cid:102)(cid:105)(cid:107)(cid:95)(cid:23)(cid:90)(cid:88)(cid:105)(cid:102)(cid:99)(cid:96)(cid:101)(cid:88)(cid:23)(cid:103)(cid:105)(cid:92)(cid:106)(cid:106)(cid:23)(cid:23)(cid:58)(cid:95)(cid:88)(cid:103)(cid:92)(cid:99)(cid:23)(cid:63)(cid:96)(cid:99)(cid:99)
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Modernities, the The University of North Carolina Press has been a member
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Society for the
Humanities, and
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
the Department Dadi, Iftikhar.
Modernism and the art of Muslim South Asia / Iftikhar Dadi. — 1st ed.
of the History of
p. cm. — (Islamic civilization and Muslim networks)
Art, all at Cornell
Includes bibliographical references and index.
University. isbn 978-0-8078-3358-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Art, South Asian—20th century. 2. Art, Islamic—South Asia.
3. Modernism (Aesthetics)—South Asia—History—20th century.
4. Transnationalism—Islamic countries. 5. Art and society—South
Asia—History—20th century. I. Title.
n7300.d33 2010
704'.0882970954—dc22 2009039273
14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Transliteration xv
introduCtion
Modernism in South Asian Muslim Art 1
1 abdur rahman Chughtai
Mughal Aesthetic in the Age of Print 46
2 mid-Century modernism
Zainul Abedin, Zubeida Agha, and Shakir Ali 93
3 sadequain and CalligraphiC modernism 134
4 emergenCe of the publiC self
Rasheed Araeen and Naiza Khan 177
epilogue
The Realm of the Contemporary 217
Glossary 229
Notes 231
Bibliography 269
Index 295
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illustrations
I.1 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mughal Artist, ca. 1930s 6
I.2 Muhammad Ali, Poet in a Flower Garden, ca. 1610–15 7
I.3 Hashim, Khan Khanan Abd ar-Rahim, ca. 1626 8
I.4 Daulat, Daulat the Painter and Abd al-Rahman the Scribe, ca. 1610 9
I.5 Bichitr, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings, ca. 1615–18 19
I.6 Horse Race towards Civilization, 1881 26
1.1 Abanindranath Tagore, The Passing of Shah Jahan, ca. 1903 52
1.2 Abanindranath Tagore, Bharat Mata, 1905 53
1.3 Cover of Chatterjee’s Picture Albums 54
1.4 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Jahanara and the Taj, 1970 63
1.5 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Yasoda, 1951 64
1.6 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Arjuna, 1951 65
1.7 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, illustration and illumination in Muraqqaʿ-i
Chughtaʾi, 1928 68
1.8 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, The Old Lamp, illustration in Muraqqaʿ-i
Chughtaʾi, 1928 69
1.9 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, illustration in Muraqqaʿ-i Chughtaʾi, 1928 70
1.10 Anonymous German artist, portrait of Ghalib, 1925 71
1.11 History of the publication of illustrated editions of FitzGerald’s
Rubaiyat 73
1.12 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, cover design for Iqbal’s poem Khizr-i rah,
1922 74
1.13 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, cover design for N. M. Rashid’s poetry
collection Mavara, ca. 1940 78
1.14 Abdur Rahman Chughtai attending an exhibition on Iqbal, 1948 82
1.15 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mourning for Baghdad, 1968 86
1.16 Abdur Rahman Chughtai, College Girls, 1954 91
2.1 Zainul Abedin, Famine Sketch, 1943 100
2.2 Zainul Abedin, Life in Bangladesh, 1970 102
2.3 Zainul Abedin, frontispiece of Ela Sen, Darkening Days, 1944 104
2.4 Zainul Abedin, Two Santhal Women, 1951 105
2.5 Zainul Abedin, The Struggle, 1959 106
2.6 Zainul Abedin in his office at the Dacca Art Institute 108
2.7 Zainul Abedin, Way to Quaid’s Grave, 1948 109
2.8 Zubeida Agha, Metamorphosis, 1947 114
2.9 Zubeida Agha, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, 1949 115
2.10 Zubeida Agha with Shakir Ali and Ali Imam, 1955 115
2.11 Zubeida Agha, In the Forest, 1958 117
2.12 Shakir Ali, Village Scene with Three Deers, 1941 121
2.13 Shakir Ali with poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, ca. 1969–70 124
2.14 Shakir Ali, Still Life of Flower in Spring, 1955 127
3.1 Calligraphic exercises in shikasta, by ʿAbd al-Majid 137
3.2 Identical text in nastaʾliq and shikasta, in pamphlet “What Is
Communism?,” early twentieth century 138
3.3 Annemarie Schimmel, drawing of human face made up of letters
according to the usage of Persian poets 139
3.4 Rider on an epigraphic horse, India, perhaps Bijapur, late sixteenth
century 139
3.5 Hashim, Mulla Muhammad Khan Vali of Bijapur, ca. 1620 140
3.6 Lithographic portrait of Ghalib, probably late nineteenth century 140
3.7 “Hilya” of Mr. Oudh Punch, 1877 141
3.8 Genealogical chart of calligraphers 142
3.9 Sadequain, Quest for Knowledge, 1959 147
3.10 Sadequain, Awara (Vagabond), ca. 1957 149
3.11 Sadequain, Genesis: Lady amidst Mountain Cacti, ca. 1957 151
3.12 Sadequain, Bull in the Studio Mirror, 1960 152
3.13 Sadequain, Composition in Kufi, ca. 1961 152
3.14 Sadequain, Treasures of Time, 1961 154
3.15 Sadequain, Saga of Labor, 1967 155
3.16 Sadequain with his father in Paris, 1967 159
3.17 Sadequain, Drawings of Artist and Model, 1966 162
3.18 Sadequain, self-portrait, 1966 163
3.19 Picasso, etching in Vollard Suite, March 31, 1933 164
3.20 Sadequain, illustration and calligraphy of his own verses 167
3.21 Sadequain, painting based on Ghalib’s poetry, 1968 168
3.22 Sadequain, Who Is Sadequain? Khayyam Asks Sarmad, 1970 171
4.1 Rasheed Araeen, Ham Raqs (Dancing Partner), 1959 180
4.2 Rasheed Araeen, Burning Bicycle Tyres, 1959 181
4.3 Rasheed Araeen, Cube as Sculpture, 1966 183
4.4 Rasheed Araeen, Chakras (Waterdiscs), 1969–70 184
4.5 Rasheed Araeen, Paki Bastard, 1977 187
4.6 Rasheed Araeen, drawing on photograph, 1978–79, on cover of
Making Myself Visible, 1984 189
4.7 Rasheed Araeen, Ethnic Drawings, 1982 190
4.8 Rasheed Araeen, Narcissus, 1981–83 193
4.9 Naiza Khan in her studio, Karachi, 2005 198
4.10 Naiza H. Khan, Khatra Khatra (Danger Danger), 2000 199
4.11 Naiza H. Khan, Henna Hands, 2003 200
4.12 Naiza H. Khan, Henna Hands, 2002 201
4.13 Naiza H. Khan, Henna Hands, 2002 201
4.14 Wall silhouette showing an MQM fighter, Hyderabad 205
4.15 Naiza H. Khan, Bullet Proof Vest, Body Armour/Lingerie, Chastity Belt,
2006–7 206
4.16 Naiza H. Khan, Pelvic Armour II, 2008 207
4.17 Naiza H. Khan, Khamosh (Silence), 2006 209
e.1 Hasnat Mehmood, Aisha Khalid, Nusra Latif Qureshi, Saira Wasim,
Talha Rathore, and Muhammad Imran Qureshi, Untitled 4, 2003 222
e.2 Bani Abidi, The Ghost of Mohammad Bin Qasim, 2006 225
e.3 Seher Shah, detail of The Concrete Oracles, 2008 226