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Lot Essay
Born in Saharanpur, in pre-Partition India in 1940, Askari Mian Irani graduated with a degree in Commercial Design from Lahore’s Mayo School of Arts, now the National College of Arts (NCA), in 1967. He worked as a designer in the advertising field until 1976, when he joined the Faculty of Design at NCA. Askari’s background in design informed his creative practice, along with his religious upbringing and the work of his teacher Shakir Ali and artists like Sadequain. He believed in the power of art to bring people together over a shared appreciation of the divine everywhere.
Askari’s artistic vocabulary evolved over several years of experimentation with calligraphic and figurative painting. Taking Indian court paintings as a starting point, he refined his work based on subjects and techniques from the Mughal period. Also influenced by his years in advertising and the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, Askari reinterpreted these miniature paintings on larger canvases, retaining the subjects, drama and detail while adding an aged look with cracked surfaces and dripping paint.
In this painting, the artist’s depiction of a royal hunt or shikaar is perhaps a nod to one of several metaphors for martial prowess and imperial authority employed in the Mughal ateliers. Borrowing from the traditions of these workshops and subverting them at the same time, the action of this painting is set in a dense forest where equestrian figures charge towards their prey across undulating terrain. Askari’s idiosyncratic technique obstructs our view, imbuing the scene with a sense of restraint and mystery. This unique style also blurs the flora and fauna of the scene, suggesting perhaps the devastating losses to the natural environment that have since taken place. In doing so, Askari brings the royal hunt to the present as an ingenious hybrid of compliance and rebellion, the classic and the avant-garde.
Following his retirement from NCA in 1999 to pursue painting full-time, Askari won great critical and commercial success, even setting up his own gallery in Lahore. Widely exhibited, the artist also designed two stamps for Pakistan in 1981 and won the Pride of Performance Award from the country’s President in 2002. Askari passed away suddenly in 2004, at the peak of his artistic career. In 2006, the artist and his work were posthumously honored on a commemorative stamp by Pakistan Post.
Askari’s artistic vocabulary evolved over several years of experimentation with calligraphic and figurative painting. Taking Indian court paintings as a starting point, he refined his work based on subjects and techniques from the Mughal period. Also influenced by his years in advertising and the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, Askari reinterpreted these miniature paintings on larger canvases, retaining the subjects, drama and detail while adding an aged look with cracked surfaces and dripping paint.
In this painting, the artist’s depiction of a royal hunt or shikaar is perhaps a nod to one of several metaphors for martial prowess and imperial authority employed in the Mughal ateliers. Borrowing from the traditions of these workshops and subverting them at the same time, the action of this painting is set in a dense forest where equestrian figures charge towards their prey across undulating terrain. Askari’s idiosyncratic technique obstructs our view, imbuing the scene with a sense of restraint and mystery. This unique style also blurs the flora and fauna of the scene, suggesting perhaps the devastating losses to the natural environment that have since taken place. In doing so, Askari brings the royal hunt to the present as an ingenious hybrid of compliance and rebellion, the classic and the avant-garde.
Following his retirement from NCA in 1999 to pursue painting full-time, Askari won great critical and commercial success, even setting up his own gallery in Lahore. Widely exhibited, the artist also designed two stamps for Pakistan in 1981 and won the Pride of Performance Award from the country’s President in 2002. Askari passed away suddenly in 2004, at the peak of his artistic career. In 2006, the artist and his work were posthumously honored on a commemorative stamp by Pakistan Post.