LONDON.- The artist Zubeida Agha (Pakistani, 1922-1997) is credited with introducing modernism to the newly independent Pakistan. Two of her paintings, on show at Zubeida Agha: Celebrating an Extraordinary Career, a
Bonhams exhibition dedicated to her powerful body of work running from 19 November until 22 November, will be offered in the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale on 22 November. Featuring artists who challenged and established national identities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the 114-lot sale will consist of works by Maqbool Fida Husain, Sayed Haider Raza and Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar, as well as the exquisite collection of Dr. Sandran Waran.
The two Agha works in the sale are:
• Untitled (Flowers in a Vase). This was painted in 1971, during civil war in Pakistan, which would end with the formation of Bangladesh. Agha was parted from close friends in the breaking up of the country. The flowers rise defiantly from the bottle, as she resisted despair and remained in high spirits. Her still life paintings often contained single bottles and vases, chosen for the symbolism in their colour and shape. Estimate: £40,000-60,000.
• Untitled (Cityscape). A rare early piece that bears the hallmarks of what would develop into her distinctive style. This is one of the few works that survived Partition in the late 1940s, when homes were looted and artworks stolen. Even though Agha adapts to the preference for recognisable pictures in her rendering of the mohalla, a neighbourhood familiar to her, the flowing lines and flattened space signify the maturity of her vision. Estimate: £30,000-50,000.
Zubeida Agha was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan) in 1922, and lived in Karachi and Lahore. While reading Philosophy and Political Science at Lahore’s women-only Kinnaird College, she started to experience “a recurring dream about colours, in which day after day she saw herself painting”. Agha was fortunate enough to come from a progressive family who fostered her interest, and at the behest of her brother she started lessons with B.C. Sanyal, a respected artist associated with the Mayo School of Art. She was introduced to radical ideas by Italian artist Mario Perlingieri, a former prisoner of war reputedly taught by Picasso. It was from here she developed her modernist orientation, partly inspired by the portraits of Amrita Sher-Gil, eschewing the theoretical side of Western abstraction in favour of its formal features.
Agha was an introvert, married only to her art, a vocation to which she was deeply committed. Her unique perspective - unlike that of the typical bohemian male artist - and lack of formal training resulted in a highly original style. She was more widely recognised after her explosive 1949 solo exhibition in Karachi, which nearly caused a minor riot, confirming the import of abstract and modernist techniques to Pakistan.
Between the years 1950 to 1953, she travelled abroad, enrolling at Saint Martins in London and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, supplementing her knowledge with visits to museums and galleries and holding exhibitions. She was fascinated that while in Pakistan “It was said that what [she] painted was Westernized”, the “Eastern” aspect of her work was recognised and praised by European critics. Her visit to Europe led her to adopt a more diverse palette, and later paintings were more ornamental and figurative. During her 16-year incumbency as Director of the Rawalpindi Art Gallery, a government-supported society of contemporary art, Agha made great strides in diversifying art in her country.
Priya Singh, Head of Sale, commented, “Zubeida Agha’s contribution to Pakistani modernism cannot be understated and we are delighted to host a special exhibition of works alongside her sale. The exhibition will be a fantastic introduction to her practice and an opportunity for visitors to see her work in context and understand its significance in Pakistani history. We are pleased to offer two of her works in the upcoming sale. Untitled (Cityscape) and Untitled (Flowers in a Vase) both demonstrate how her approach was inseparable from her place of birth. The Agha pieces are just one part of a strong selection overall, involving important paintings by the Indian artist Sayed Haider Raza. We’re celebrating his birth centenary and the 75-year anniversary of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ group in 2022, so his presence in the sale will captivate collectors.”
Leading the sale is a large-scale painting by Maqbool Fida Husain (Indian, 1915-2011), a founding member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group. Untitled (Bhil Tribals) is from the artist’s ninth decade, distinguished by its cinematic grandeur. Husain’s curiosity about different ways of life is evident in this painting of the Bhils, the largest tribal group in western India. Known for living in the wild and hunting, their closeness to nature is emphasised in Husain’s bright colours and energetic composition; the reclining woman and protective elephants are both recurring motifs in Husain’s work. The painting has an estimate of £70,000 - 90,000.
Untitled (Blue boy atop Nandini), which has an estimate of £50,000-70,000, is another major Husain in the sale. Although a practicing Muslim himself, Husain paid tribute to all forms of religious iconography in his art, and in the late 1960s portrayed Hindu epics with illustrations from the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata series. Krishna, eighth avatar of Vishnu, God of protection, compassion, tenderness and love, appears as a young boy playing the flute. He is seated upon Nandini, the wish-fulfilling cow birthed from the left side of his body.
2022 marks the birth centenary of Sayed Haider Raza (Indian, 1922-2016), as well as 75 years of the Progressive Artists’ group he founded. The sale contains two of his works:
• Untitled, 1972. Raza sought a new artistic direction in the 1970s. In this small yet fascinating work, the artist conquers darkness, as plant-like forms rise from the blackness and a new day begins. Estimate: £40,000-60,000.
• Les Rochers, 1969. The work was painted in one of the most significant periods of his painterly career, the early 1960s. Raza travelled to the University of California at Berkeley from France, where he encountered Sam Francis, Mark Rothko and other prominent Abstract Expressionists. This pushed him beyond what he had learnt from the School of Paris, allowing him greater capacity for emotional expression through fluid brushwork. He used this to convey childhood memories of India, specifically of the forests surrounding Mandla. Estimate: £35,000-50,000.
Lots 21-31 all hail from the collection of Dr. Sandran Waran. Highlights include:
• Jamini Roy (Indian, 1887-1972), Untitled (Krishna and Cows). Estimate: £8,000-12,000.
• Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar (Indian, 1911-1996), Untitled (Veena Player). Estimate: £50,000-70,000.
• Sayed Haider Raza (Indian, 1922-2016), Untitled (Village Scene). Estimate: £18,000-24,000.
• George Keyt (Sri Lankan, 1901-1993), Untitled (Woman with a Vase). Estimate: £10,000-15,000.
• B. Prabha (Indian, 1933-2001), Untitled (Village Scene). Estimate: £5,000-7,000.
Also on 22 November will be an auction in aid of Friendship, a charity based in Bangladesh which aims to uplift marginalised communities in the region, reducing poverty with the provision of education, healthcare and other opportunities. The sale will include Tawid, a portrait by James Earley (British, b. 1981). Friendship NGO: Celebrating 20 Years will start at 4pm, after a break following the main auction at 2:30pm.
The focus on South Asian art continues with a non-selling exhibition of a private collection of works by Irfan Cheema, an artist known for highly detailed naturalistic still life scenes recalling the Dutch masters of the 17th century. Cheema’s storytelling through curated objects will be the subject of Irfan Cheema: Transient and Timeless, on view from 18 November until 22 November in New Bond Street.
