Preface

Books on art are the second best alternative to living works of art. It is another splendid way of exhibiting, displaying paintings and other works of art to the viewers. It has an additional advantage of providing a historical perspective of the artists’ life, within the context of the events and ideas of the period in which art works were produced. A well printed book if stocked in various libraries can at least provide a glimpse of the art work that is being produced around the world. In this way a comprehensive record and database of contemporary art activity is preserved for successive generations to come. In the absence of permanent art galleries in various district towns and cities of Pakistan, the role of well illustrated art books particularly of painting acquire pivotal importance.

For many years I have devoted a significant proportion of my time trying to convince individuals in position of authority particularly those in various cultural institutions to create a database for Pakistani artists. In the last several years a few art books on paintings have been published in Pakistan. But even though this is a good beginning it is not enough.

When I was asked to write a book on Ijaz ul Hassan, I thought about it for a while. In the end the consideration that my companionship with him since 1961, has enabled me to witness events in his life as no one else could, carried a lot of weight. But primarily I consider this book as another link in the chain of information about art works that has at last begun to be slowly welded together. Any book that can display in one place a large body of work by the artist, as well as his thoughts, (whether expressed in prose or verse or through other peoples’ writing on him) and numerous photographs of his related activities, is a very useful record. Also of considerable importance is the need to compile and write about paintings of a person who has over the last five decades presented us with so many remarkable facets of his talents, but also a large section of whose artistic endeavours were either censored or due to prohibitive political circumstances have never been exhibited. It would be appropriate to mention here that in many cases the dates and sizes of paintings are approximate and may not be precisely accurate.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped in my effort. My thanks are due to all collectors and patrons for making the paintings in their collection available for photography. I would also like to thank Mr. Basit Khursheed for sparing the time to streamline some of the designing aspects. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Louis Herlands for scrutinising the script in limited time with such care and effort. Special mention must be made of all members of my family Mina Hassan Zaidi, who edited the first draft, Ahmed, Tariq and Fatima for their technical advice at all times and Ijaz ul Hassan for his cooperation.

When I reviewed the finished draft of the book I felt that it would not be complete without a few words from some of our eminent writers, who have had a rich and wonderful association with art and culture for a long time. I would like to thank, F S Aijaz ud din, Syed Akmal Hussain and Irfan Husain for their generosity in sparing the time to write a few lines that can be part of this book

My special thanks are due to Mr. Imran Khan of the Topical printers for his photography. I also used photographs by Quddus Mirza, Mohammed Ali Wasti, Ghulam Mustapha and Dr. Saddaqat. Thanks are due to Mr. Aamir Ali for the design of the book and for his patience in making frequent changes. Appreciation is due to Mr. Naseer Baloch and Ms. Farhana for their great perseverance and success in producing quality books that are always a joy to behold.