Viewing the work on exhibition, one was able to trace the artist's work through the years, including the realistic figurative art, and the exotica of the artist's imagination.

Self portraits in the dress of a Balochi tribesman in huge turbans so realistically rendered, one could see the weave of the material; these were the artist's homage to his formative years spent in Quetta. Work on display included portraits, a series of paintings, prints and drawings of horses, the classic beauty of the 'Baraq' series and unearthly fantasy female figures, lightly clad and heavily bejewelled. Though admittedly colour blind, the artist's paintings were brilliant with countless hues and tones; particularly the 'Baraq' series, in which the wings of the delicate horse in flight were dazzling.

During the course of the evening the artist informally addressed the visitors, relating various aspects of his career; how as a youth he encountered Fatima Jinnah who graciously looked through his sketch book, and said she would remember his name in the future. He spoke of the first portraits he viewed of Rudyard Kipling and the Quaid-e-Azam painted by Hal Bevan Petman, who advised him to join the National College of Arts; and related how his first commissioned portrait was executed from a head-and-shoulders photograph, and he was obliged to find a model to complete the dignified figure. As a student of the NCA, he developed a great respect and fondness for Shakir Ali that he retains to this day. Throughout Akhtar's very successful teaching career, he endeavored to emulate the ethics, focus and sincerity of his former professor.

The decade of the '70s saw his portraits hung in the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, and the War Museum, Rawalpindi. He painted the Prime Minister and other nationally important figures, and for the Islamic Summit Conference held in Lahore in 1974, he painted a series of heads of state of Muslim countries. Among the numerous portraits of the Quaid-e-Azam he produced, the largest is hung in the National Assembly, Islamabad. Those were busy years, teaching and painting continuously and his work was recognised and appreciated by way of National Awards. The President's Pride of Performance Award, was conferred on him in 1984.

After his retirement from the National College of Arts, Akhtar relished the freedom to paint the subjects he chose in his huge, warehouse studio in Lahore, working throughout the day, a routine he maintains to the present time. Akhter exhibited his work in Lahore after a gap of 11 years and it is even longer since his work was seen in Karachi. Yet, though few may remember, Akhtar had a decided influence on the development of art in Karachi. Between the departure of Bashir Mirza for Europe, and the opening of the Indus Gallery in 1971, there was a hiatus that on Akhtar's urgings resulted in the activity of a gallery located near the Nursery area of Karachi.

It was he who organised exhibitions of Ahmed Khan, Colin David and his own work from Lahore, seen for the first time in Karachi, and initiating the interest of the public as well as the strong response of the media. The success of the venture resulted in other galleries opening and contributed to the burgeoning market which, at that time, encouraged an upcoming young generation of painters.

Accompanying the exhibition was a beautiful monograph authored by Mohammad Khalid Mahmud. Published by Naseer Ahmed Balouch, it is by way of being an extensive thematic exploration of the artist's work produced over a period of 40 years; a resplendent homage to the maestro.