Legendary Jamil Naqsh passes away in London

LONDON: Famous Pakistani artist Jamil Naqsh passed away in London on Thursday, aged 80. He was suffering from ‘serious pneumonia’.

Naqsh was admitted to the St Mary’s Hospital in London on May 7, with deteriorating health. “After creating numerous masterpieces in this world for over six decades, he has returned back to his Creator,” his wife Najmi Sura said in a statement. He was was born in Kairana, India, in 1939 after which he moved to Pakistan.

Naqsh leaves behind an illustrious career and will be known as the one of the pioneers in redefining abstract, still-life, calligraphy and many other genres. He will not only be remembered by his family, but will also go down in history as a ‘relentless painter’ who opted for reclusiveness to focus on his work over the other joys of life. Known as one of the greatest artists of his generation, Naqsh was a celebrated artist, famous for his calligraphy, pigeons and figurative paintings.

Album painting and non-objective art are mutually contradictory but Jamil Naqsh borrowed the best of both to create his own aesthetic vocabulary, which then became his signature style. Jamil Naqsh, was the master of texture, light and space, which are often the backbone of his art. His artwork depicted the female form, which is often paired with pigeons and other subjects of nature. Throughout his career, his paintings were grounded in tradition, usually depicting his subjects from Mughal era.

Naqsh was trained as a miniaturist under former NCA professor Ustaad Haji Sharif in Lahore. A dropout of the National College of Arts, Naqsh was honoured with the Shakir Ali Award, the Pride of Performance Award in 1989 and Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2009. Naqsh resided in London since 2012.

To commemorate the contribution of the towering personality, friends of Naqsh came up with the idea to open a museum in his name that did not only fulfill the purpose of paying homage to Naqsh by displaying all his paintings from 1960 to 2000 but also a contribution in the local art of Karachi that is open for the public. The museum has all the artworks from paintings, miniature to calligraphy and books that tell about Naqsh’s work and exhibitions.