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Lot Essay
A leading proponent of the Western academic style, Allah Bux was bestowed the title of 'Ustad' or 'Master' because of his abilities and achievements as an artist. A master of both watercolour and oil painting, Bux painted from natural phenomena which he later adapted in the studio. His work is heavily influenced by both local and folk cultural heritage, and western artistic practice. The artist's depictions of rural Pakistani life and mythology have enjoyed great popularity and success.
"Bux explored a variety of subjects during his early years as a painter. Before Partition, he was well-known for his representations of Krishna, though he also engaged in landscape and portrait painting. He was as versatile with media as with subject matter, and some of his mixtures of media were quite innovative. His painting was realistic with a romantic edge, inspired by the Indo-Western style practiced in Bombay and the European paintings in the Royal Patiala collection." (M. Sirhandi, Contemporary Painting in Pakistan, Lahore, 1992, p. 27)
Flame of Love is a sensuous scene exalting Bux's power of lyricism and line particularly when rendering his female figures. This canvas reveals the artist as a master of romanticism. Bux's virtuosic technique is at its height at the centre of the composition with the careful rendering of the moths dancing around an open flame representing the power of love itself. Like a moth to a flame, Bux's paintings attracted the attention of the Maharajah of Patiala. In 1937, he lived and worked as a court painter for the Patiala royal family.
"Bux explored a variety of subjects during his early years as a painter. Before Partition, he was well-known for his representations of Krishna, though he also engaged in landscape and portrait painting. He was as versatile with media as with subject matter, and some of his mixtures of media were quite innovative. His painting was realistic with a romantic edge, inspired by the Indo-Western style practiced in Bombay and the European paintings in the Royal Patiala collection." (M. Sirhandi, Contemporary Painting in Pakistan, Lahore, 1992, p. 27)
Flame of Love is a sensuous scene exalting Bux's power of lyricism and line particularly when rendering his female figures. This canvas reveals the artist as a master of romanticism. Bux's virtuosic technique is at its height at the centre of the composition with the careful rendering of the moths dancing around an open flame representing the power of love itself. Like a moth to a flame, Bux's paintings attracted the attention of the Maharajah of Patiala. In 1937, he lived and worked as a court painter for the Patiala royal family.