What do artists like Chughtai, Allah Baksh, Sadequain, Ismail Gulgee and Jamil Naqsh have in common with Henri Rousseau, Frida Kahlo, Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh and Winslow Homer? They were all self-taught artists whose singular styles brought them wide recognition at home and abroad.

Art historian Ifthikhar Dadi’s article in Islamic Arts and Architecture describes Sadequain as “A self-trained, larger-than-life figure,” who with, “his almost superhuman capacity for work and his compelling ambition, [he] arrived on the scene, from outside the merry-go-round, entirely on his own and became the greatest exponent of calligraphic modernism in Pakistan.”

Author, critic/curator Edward Lucie Smith commenting on Jamil Naqsh’s early years states, “One feature of Naqsh’s life as a student, however, was his innate sense of when he had learnt enough. He left the Mayo College without a diploma and has never regretted it.”

“In later years, he explained that it was knowledge he craved for, not a certificate,” divulges critic Marjorie Hussain in her text on the modern master.

Salwat Ali examines the old debate of the role of art schools versus self-taught artists

In the current artscape dominated by art graduates how does self-taught art measure against school tutored degree art? It may be difficult to spotlight another Chughtai or a Sadequain today, but seasoned modernist, gallery director and mentor at large, Riffat Alvi says that presently artists like Meerza Ali, A.S. Rind, Abrar Ahmed, Mehtab Ali, etc, are catering to a select clientele, who subscribe to the self-taught category. Differentiating between them, she remarks, “During gallery talks it is worthwhile to discuss exhibition modalities and trends with young graduate artists as they are open to critical analysis versus self-taught painters who often possess specific mindsets and stay away from mainstream art developments.”

Romila Kareem, fine arts faculty member of the Karachi School of Arts (KSA) and curator/researcher of the extensive forthcoming VM Print Biennale 2014, sharing her observations about self-taught artists also admits to noticing “a sort of resistance [amongst them] against mingling with other artists” and feels they are often reluctant to teach others because “they want to live with their own paradigm.” On achieving success, she says, they take pride in being self-taught rather than pay homage to their mentors.

Then what are the essentials that define an artist? Is it just the production of a creative work or is it creativity aligned with formal education and training? Merriam Webster dictionary describes self-taught artists as “having knowledge or skills acquired by one’s own efforts without formal instruction.”

Apparently the creative instinct, the essential force that compels individual art production, is not the only determinant of artistic merit. Today, the art world’s amplification into a thriving industry dominated by a thriving art market infrastructure, art graduate schools/colleges, residencies, scholarly global art forums and high profile international showcases like biennials/ triennials and art fairs calls for the kind of art credentials that only certified art institutions and affiliations can provide.

Some recently qualified artists commenting on the role of art schools versus self-taught artists generally agreed that “No matter what educational route you choose, you need a background in art history along with fundamental training in developing a visual vocabulary, research and peer critique so that you can properly communicate your ideas. A good teacher and the right class will push you further than you can go on your own. They will expose you to ideas, concepts, and ways of working you might never have discovered on your own.” In the light of their own experience they also felt art schooling was important in helping students to understand and negotiate the art world (read art industry).

Kareem points out, “Many self-taught artists may be constricted and could not open up to possibilities in their work because they did not have an open forum where they could discuss their work on a serious level.” Personally her “own experience of attending an art institute has led me [Kareem] to believe that you will almost always gain something out of it. Especially in the case of the National College of Arts, Lahore, you not only learn from the teachers but also from the environment.”

The pendulum swung in many directions as extended conversations with the young practitioners revealed deeper concerns with following a school/college curriculum, programme and a particular path which was not essentially their own.

One artist quips, “I guess the best thing colleges give us is a system, a pattern to carry out research,” another elaborates, “They make you explore things in a supportive environment, put you in contact with a qualified faculty: this certainly helps to think about things, to be introduced to the field ... but as far as giving a student a style or vision or artistic flair is concerned ... no … that has to be worked on … they ‘locate’ you in a specific situation, with specific ideas, what is fashionable with the teachers, etc, ... sometimes that can be equally damaging.”

There is also consensus on the point that, “even after college education, etc, there is that process of learning that needs to continue. After graduating ... that is when your real progress happens. … It is ultimately self-education at the end of the day ... self-directed study that determines the strength and identity of the artist.”

Self-taught artists who work within the context of contemporary art — serious artists who may not have a degree but who have taken classes with good teachers, who attend lectures, who involve themselves in the art network of their region, who read and think about art are different from the tradition bound artists confined to insular groups.

Qualified or self-schooled, the best artists know that passion, emotion and feelings are important — but they are not enough without proficiency, skill and instructions. Self-motivated and self-disciplined — they know that personal education is a lifelong affair.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 27th, 2014