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Lot Essay
Born in 1895 in Wazirabad, a small town in Punjab, Allah Bux started as an apprentice to a sign painter and then moved on to painting theater sets in Calcutta and Bombay. Now known as a leading proponent of European Academic Classicism in South Asia, Bux's depictions of scenes from Hindu mythology and Punjabi village life and folklore were inspired by colonial styles and tastes that were introduced in the subcontinent in the Eighteenth Century. Borrowing the romanticism of the Western works he saw, as well as their medium of oil, the artist built his reputation by creating beautiful images heavily influenced by local and folk cultural heritage.
Moving to Lahore in 1919, Bux rapidly gained recognition, developing a wide circle of admirers and being bestowed the honorific of 'Ustad' or master in recognition of his abilities and achievements as an artist. After the Partition, he chose to remain in Lahore and continued to depict idyllic landscapes and scenes from Pakistani life and mythology, making his oeuvre a fascinating testimony of a national visual culture in the making.
The present lot, a large landscape portraying a group of farm laborers at harvest in the potato fields of rural Pakistan, is a joyous celebration of labor and love underlining the mastery Bux achieved in capturing romantic scenes that highlighted the sentimental beauty of Punjabi village life. "[Bux] was as versatile with media as with subject matter [...] 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).
Moving to Lahore in 1919, Bux rapidly gained recognition, developing a wide circle of admirers and being bestowed the honorific of 'Ustad' or master in recognition of his abilities and achievements as an artist. After the Partition, he chose to remain in Lahore and continued to depict idyllic landscapes and scenes from Pakistani life and mythology, making his oeuvre a fascinating testimony of a national visual culture in the making.
The present lot, a large landscape portraying a group of farm laborers at harvest in the potato fields of rural Pakistan, is a joyous celebration of labor and love underlining the mastery Bux achieved in capturing romantic scenes that highlighted the sentimental beauty of Punjabi village life. "[Bux] was as versatile with media as with subject matter [...] 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).