EDITORIAL: So soon after Chughtai it is Shakir Ali, who died in Lahore at the age of 59. January has indeed been a cruel month for the arts in Pakistan. And while Chughtai was a school unto himself and … the epilogue of a lost tradition, Shakir Ali could serve as a preface to our contemporary art. He was truly the ‘grand old man’ of modern painting in Pakistan and it may safely be said that no other artist has meant more for the living tradition of our art. He lived and breathed art, a constant source of inspiration for the young and promising artists. … Whatever happens to painting in Pakistan, he will remain as one of its most influential figures. Shakir Ali was a man of compassion. … His very personality had an artistic glow. …

He had travelled widely in his younger days and patiently studied the old as well as the new. Though his work was abstract and figurative and he was a ‘modern’ painter in all respects, he was not an artist alienated from his society. He did not live on a borrowed sensibility. His art was manifestly Pakistani and his matchless calligraphy was evidence of his association with our cultural and artistic traditions.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025