There is something about a good, old fashioned realist painting that still warms the heart and makes it stand out in a collection of works. Though audiences in Karachi have gotten used to a pot-pourri of diverse 'modern' styles, and often come to galleries with their packed lunch of prejudices, representational art still has an undoubted pulling power on the viewer. This was ably demonstrated in S. M. Fawad's exhibition at the Shakil Ismail Gallery, Karachi which opened recently. When this reviewer entered the gallery the day after the opening he narrowly missed colliding with a large billowy woman wearing horn rimmed glasses who was about to leave the premises. She was shouting into her cell phone and saying that 15 of the 17 canvases on display had those little round red stickers attached to them that indicated that a sale had been concluded, and added with a note of triumph that she had already placed a deposit on the two that were left.
After she stormed out of the gallery it dawned on this reviewer that it isn't very often that an artist triggers off a domino effect in a cash register in his very first exhibition, and that too a solo effort. He hoped that the artist was seriously considering taking a holiday, perhaps in the Maldives.
Fawad's oils on canvas were a very pleasant discovery, at least for this reviewer, and he was jolly pleased he had seen his work. Art critic Nafees Ghaznavi, in his highly readable blurb in the invitation card to the exhibition, described the artist as 'The relentless realist', which is, of course, just what Fawad is. The description has such a powerful ring to it that this reviewer simply had to use it as the title of his review.
Fawad's paintings are pure undiluted realism, perhaps not quite in the style of Shakil Siddiqui who leads the pack and is still the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. But Fawad's use of colour, the way he applies his brush and his obsessive attention to detail suggests that it won't be long before people will accord him the same respect as they do to the late Colin David, Iqbal Hussain and Hanif Shahzad.
In the exhibition under reference Fawad has taken the viewer on a guided tour of Mithadar, Kharadar, Burns Road, Lee Market, D.J. Science College and Mohatta Palace. In these vignettes of old Karachi are displayed the solid brick of hulking old houses with their sooted windows, elaborate porticos and fractured columns, and the majestic red sandstone of the Raj, which speaks of an age of grace and colonial splendour. He has used as his subjects doors, windows, balconies, tiles, jalousies and screens with their filigree network occasionally embellished by calligraphy.
Though each of the 17 canvases was quite delightful the picture which this reviewer liked the most was the one of the open window with the odd missing louver opening into a dark interior, with a cracked glass pane in the skylight and weeds and nettles guarding vacancies. One learned from Ghaznavi's write-up that Fawad is an admirer of Andrew Wyeth and the orientalist Jean-Leon Gerome and that he is also a student of the Farrukh Shahab Studio and received training in commercial designing from Mashkoor Raza's School of Art.
Much has been written about realist artists in Pakistan by reviewers and authors, and it is not surprising that the style has always had an abidingly powerful grip on the popular imagination. Realistic painting has a long and revered history which goes back to the ancient Greeks. Just as classic Greek and Roman art strove to depict the perfect form, artists of the high Renaissance revived classicism by painting beauty realistically.
A reviewer writing in a leading US newspaper put it rather nicely when he stated in an article. “Classicism emphasises harmonious proportion, simple structure and asymmetry. The result is a natural beauty that is noble, dignified, and peaceful. Classical art is not only about realistic portrayals of natural objects but about presenting an ideal form and perfection, that is, art that portrays an eternal spirit and noble values.”
For the Pakistani pioneers who emulated the classical style, the perfect form embodied stillness, containment, and elegance. Inspired by ancient sculptures and artefacts discovered at the time, the artists learnt how to depict both ideal beauty and realism. They incorporated this understanding in their work and created works of art that would set the standard for generations of painters to come. S.M. Fawad is one of the lucky ones who not only inherited the legacy but benefited from the experience.
