Hajra Mansur
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Hajra Mansur
Briefly
Hajra Mansur was a prominent Pakistani artist who was born in Lahore in 1922 and passed away in 1987. She is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern art in Pakistan.
Mansur received her initial training in art from the Mayo School of Arts, Lahore, and later studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London. She was also a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright scholarship, which allowed her to travel and study in the United States.
Mansur's work is characterized by bold, expressive brushstrokes and a vivid use of color. She often painted scenes of everyday life in Pakistan, depicting the people and landscapes of her homeland with sensitivity and compassion. Mansur was also known for her portraits, which captured the personalities and emotions of her subjects with great skill and insight.
Throughout her career, Mansur received numerous awards and honors for her contributions to the arts. She was a founding member of the Lahore Art Circle and served as the head of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Punjab, Lahore.
Today, Mansur's work is held in high esteem by collectors and art enthusiasts around the world. Her legacy continues to inspire and influence generations of artists in Pakistan and beyond.
Articles abour Hajra
Visions of Venus
By Fahad Rahman
The recent exhibition of Hajra Mansur’s work titled, ‘Neo-Romantism’ at the Ejaz Galleries in Lahore was a re-affirmation of her professional standing as a creative genius
“An artist depicts a personal world through his/her own distinctive lens. I look at everything from an aesthetic paradigm; I perceive beauty all around me. My art is mostly about beauty, technique, perfection and quality. There is no social statement or slogan other than aesthetic appeal for its own sake,” says Hajra Mansur, Pakistan’s leading woman artist, describing the theme of her work.
Hajra’s newest creations, titled ‘Neo-Romantism’, were recently displayed at the Ejaz Gallery in Lahore and received an overwhelming reception from both the media and art critics. “We have already sold many paintings and keep getting demands from everywhere. Hajra has a very distinctive style that appeals to the eyes. This exhibition is meant to honour her dedicated presence and prominence in the Pakistani artist community,” says Muhammad Ramzan, the Chief Executive of Ejaz Gallery, enthusiastically as he proudly showed off the paintings on display.
Hajra’s distinctive water colour paintings and drawings are clearly influenced by the famous Pakistani artist, Abdur Rahman Chughtai, who was known for his large watercolours in the modified Bengal-school style. “My work can be considered Modern Oriental in style; the elements and grammar are modern even though the figures etc. are Oriental,” Hajra explains. She stresses that people have to understand that technique is the most important aspect of judging quality art.
Her work demonstrates the finesse and expertise of a creative genius meant to produce objects of quintessential beauty and fine taste. “My technique is very complex and requires talent and ability and a lot of careful work. Nowadays there are so many fake artists and musicians trying to make it to the limelight really fast. In this fast-paced culture we have forgotten about quality and concentrate on quantity,” she laments.
The distinctive style of Hajra’s work is the central importance of a woman’s figure. Is this a statement about women’s issues? “Not really,” she replies, “I am not trying to offer any social message, rather they serve the purpose of creating pure, refined aesthetic expressions of my inner self. My paintings reflect my ‘self’ and I concentrate on the beauty of a woman in all her glory.”
This Neo-Romantism exhibition emphasises the adeptness with which Hajra creates magnificent images of women — brimming with sensuality and coyness. The women staring through the canvas with their large soulful eyes seem to be the epitome of Eastern beauty and sophistication. These artistic creations seem confident, comfortable with them selves and their bodies, but still retain a certain traditional shy demeanour. One gets enchanted by the beauty and glory of the paintings with their fine points and intricacies. The women adorn exquisite jewellery and clothing. The clothing seems semi-transparent, which further adds to the sensual beautification of the images.
One of the paintings that attracted a lot of attention was ‘Artist and the Model’. It shows a man — an artist — with different kinds of paint brushes etc. on his head, observing the woman in front — presumably the model he has painted. Another painting that seems to offer a certain statement is ‘My sculpture,’ which shows a woman holding a sculpted head of a man, and studying it intently. When I asked the artist about whether there was any particular meaning attached to this painting, she laughed and said, “Well I just felt that the male form didn’t need more canvas space than this! But I’m not saying anything; it is up to the viewers to interpret it themselves.”
‘Me & my Tradition,’ is another interesting painting, which is a unique syncretism of the past and present artistic style. The background is traditional miniature art, a representation of the past; while the dominant figure is drawn with Hajra’s distinctive style, representing the present. This interplay of the past and present is a central feature of all of Hajra’s creations, and this might explain the appeal of these paintings in today’s age.
The design of the paintings is very chic and refined, and lends a very classy touch to the artist’s work. In fact Hajra narrates an interesting anecdote about one of her paintings, called ‘In Front of Lamp’. “One man liked the design of the lamp in the painting so much that he actually asked someone to make a lamp just like that for him!” A further proof of Hajra Mansur’s artistic skills is the drawing entitled ‘Couple,’ in which the right line of the woman’s face has the dual function of defining the man’s left line of the neck. The delicate balancing act performed by this single stroke, as seen by the perfection of the face as well as the neck, is a feat requiring genuine artistic talent.
Hajra is passionate about the state of art in Pakistan and speaks with great zeal about its evolution. “I came to Karachi from India during 1964, and there wasn’t much artistic work being done in the city at that time. People discouraged and criticised me for my work, but I did not give up. I proactively worked to establish a tradition of artistic vibrancy and awareness. I can now say with pride that all the acceptance and recognition given to art that we see nowadays is part of the efforts that I had made during those early years,” Hajra reminisces. “We might have gained a legitimate space for art in Pakistan, but the irony is that the promoters of art, like the Government, can’t even distinguish quality art from cheap scribbles.” Hajra adds with disappointment.
Being one of the premier artists of Pakistan, Hajra understands very well that the promotion of substandard art can lead to the decline and stagnation of the artistic community in Pakistan. The need of the hour is to ensure that the new crop of artists master the basics of techniques and style, so that they are able to create pieces of aesthetic value as endearing as Hajra’s.
