Ismail Gulgee
- Masters in Soil Mechanics (Harvard University)
- Masters in Hydraulics (Columbia University)
- Pride of Performance
Ismail Gulgee (Urdu: امین اسماعیل گل جی; 25 October 1926 – 16 December 2007),[1] also known simply as Gulgee, was a Pakistani painter.[2]
Born in Peshawar, he received his early education at Lawrence College before attending Aligarh University, Columbia University, and Harvard University for higher education. He started off painting portraits before turning to abstract art, basing his works on Islamic calligraphy. He gained international acclaim, and was commissioned to paint several leaders, including US Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and Pakistani leaders Zulifqar Ali Bhutto and General Ayub Khan.[3]
On 19 December 2007, he was found murdered at his house with his wife and maid. After a lengthy investigation,[4] his driver and servant were convicted and given life sentences on 23 May 2017.[5]
Early life and education
Gulgee was born on 25 October 1926 at Karimpura locality in Peshawar, Pakistan.[6][2] For his education, he went to Lawrence College Murree and then to Aligarh University to study civil engineering. Then he went to the United States to continue his higher education. While he was an engineering student at Columbia University, he started to paint. Later, Gulgee also studied at Harvard University.[2]
Painting style
Before 1959, as a portraitist, Gulgee painted the entire Afghan Royal Family.[1] In the early 1960s, he turned to abstract painting. Gulgee was a skilled naturalistic portrait painter who had enjoyed (according to Partha Mitter) "lavish state support" and plenty of elite commissions in this capacity. Nevertheless, he was perhaps best known worldwide for his abstract work, which was inspired by Islamic calligraphy and was also influenced by the "action painting" movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Some people say that Elaine Hamilton was a strong influence on him. In both Islamic calligraphy and action painting, a high value is placed on the unity and energy of gestural flow. Gulgee's canvases were often quite large in the tradition of other action painters or abstract expressionists. Sometimes he used materials such as mirror glass and gold or silver leaf in his oil paintings. Therefore, in fact, they appeared to be mixed media pieces.[2][1]
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see external links): "Gulgee's calligraphy paintings are abstract and gestural interpretations of Arabic and Urdu letters. His sweeping layers of paint explore the formal qualities of oil paint while they make references to Islamic design elements."[7]
Beginning in the 1960s (if not earlier), Gulgee (along with his younger brother Agha Sadaruddin (a well-known filmmaker and photographer for Time and Life), also created sculptures, including bronze pieces that were (like so many of his paintings) calligraphic in form and inspiration, and sometimes specifically based on verses from the Quran.[6]
His son Amin Gulgee is also a famous artist.[1]
International and special assignments
Guljee received many requests for his paintings internationally, from the Saudi royal family to the Islamabad presidency. Many of his works are placed in the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.[1][6]
Painting exhibitions
Gulgee held his first painting exhibition in 1950.[2]
Gulgee's exhibitions have mostly been available to few people. Keeping that in mind and high public demand, an art gallery for Gulgee has been built in Clifton, Karachi, near South City Hospital and Sea View Karachi. Gulgee mostly painted for his own inspiration and vision. Although selected paintings are displayed at Clifton Art Gallery.[8]
Murder
Gulgee, his wife Zarrin Gulgee and a maid were found dead by strangulation[1] in their house on the evening of 19 December 2007 by his servants. Police suspect that all three had been murdered.[3] While the bodies were found on the 19th, officials report that they had apparently been deceased for three days, leading to a speculative death date of 16 December 2007. Their bodies were found bound and gagged in separate rooms of the house. The initial cause of death for all three had been attributed to suffocation. According to press reports, his son reported that Gulgee's car and driver were missing and a foul smell coming from his parents' home. Gulgee was buried on the evening of 20 December 2007 in Karachi.[3][1]
Meanwhile, Gulgee's driver and another servant were arrested by the police as suspects and tried in court. The court case lingered on for many years. Finally, in May 2017, both of them were convicted and handed down life imprisonment sentences.[9]
Awards and recognition
- Pride of Performance Award in 1970 by the President of Pakistan[2][8]
- Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award in 1982 by the Government of Pakistan[2][8]
- Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) Award in 1995 by the President of Pakistan[2][8]
See also
- Islamic calligraphy (primary source of inspiration for Gulgee's abstract works)
- Action painting (Gestural abstraction)
- Elaine Hamilton (American action painter and colleague who influenced Gulgee, according to Partha Mitter)
- Mixed media
- Abstract expressionism
- Amjad Ali, S. Gulgee, Versatile Artist. Islamabad: Idara Saqafat-e-Pakistan, 1984 OCLC 12811086 (Worldcat link)
- Ismaili, Mohammad. Gulgee (Lahore: Ferozsons, 2000) ISBN 969-0-01428-5
- Mitter, Partha. Indian art (Oxford History of Art) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-19-284221-8 (This book deals with the history of art in the entire South Asian subcontinent, including what are today modern Pakistan and Bangladesh.)
- Naqvi, Akbar. Image and Identity: Fifty Years of Painting and Sculpture in Pakistan. (Karachi and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Pakistani artist Ismail Gulgee found murdered". CBC News. 19 December 2007. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Gulgee profile". Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government (kp.gov.pk) website. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "Top Pakistani artist 'murdered'". BBC News website. 19 December 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ Tanoli, Ishaq (4 February 2017). "Nine years on, Gulgee murder trial remains inconclusive". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ "Gulgee, wife's murderers handed down life imprisonment". The Express Tribune. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Profile of Ismail Gulgee on artnet.com website Retrieved 6 July 2019
- ^ "Modern Art in West and East Pakistan". Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) website. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ a b c d Ismail Gulgee (profile) Clifton Art Gallery website, Retrieved 6 July 2019
- ^ Zubair Ashraf (23 May 2017). "Gulgee, wife's murderers handed down life imprisonment". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 6 July 2019.
External links
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York): discussion of modern art in Pakistan (including COLOR IMAGE of a 1999 Gulgee work)
- Artnet Resource Library biography of Gulgee
- v
- t
- e
- Abdur Rehman Chughtai (1958)
- Zainul Abedin (1958)
- Hafeez Jalandhari (1958)
- Professor Abdus Salam (1958)
- Roshan Ara Begum (1960)
- Fateh Ali Khan (Qawwali singer) (1960)
- Tassaduq Hussain (1960)
- Sadequain (1962)
- Mehdi Ali Mirza (1962)
- Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum (1962)
- Ahmed Mohiuddin (1962)
- Allah Bakhsh (1963)
- Shahid Ahmad Dehlvi (1963)
- Noor Jehan (1965)
- A.S.M. Qamarul Hasan (1965)
- Zubaida Agha (1965)
- Ferdausi Begum (1965)
- Sharif Khan Poonchwaley (1965)
- Imtiaz Ali Taj (1965)
- Salimuzzaman Siddiqui (1966)
- Shakir Ali (1966)
- Khwaja Moinuddin (1966)
- Ayat Ali Khan (1966)
- Ustad Haji Mohammad Sharif (1967)
- Munshi Raziuddin (1967)
- Rafi Peer (1967)
- Ali Imam (1968)
- Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi (1968)
- Amanat Ali Khan (1969)
- Bade Fateh Ali Khan (1969)
- Leila Arjumand Banu (1969)
- Umeed Ali Khan (1969)
- Mohammad Kibria (1969)
- Anna Molka Ahmed (1969)
- Ismail Gulgee (1970)
- Farida Khanum (1970)
- Naheed Niazi (1970)
- Muslehuddin (1970)
- Ustad Gul Mohammad Khan (1971)
- S. M. Ikram (1971)
- Iqbal Bano (1974)
- Salamat Ali Khan (1977)
- Munir Sarhadi (1978)
- Ahmed Parvez (1978)
- Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan (1978)
- Sabri Brothers (1978)
- Ibn-e-Insha (1978)
- Faiz Mohammad Baloch (1979)
- Khamiso Khan (1979)
- Kishwar Sultan (1979)
- Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (Sitar Nawaz) (1979)
- Ghulam Ali (1979)
- Alam Lohar (1979)
- Mureed Buledi (1979)
- Misri Khan Jamali (1979)
- Pathanay Khan (1979)
- Mohammad Azam Chishti (1979)
- Ashfaq Ahmed (1979)
- Nabi Bakhsh Baloch (1979)
- Mohammad Qavi Khan (1980)
- Ustad Khyal Muhammad (1980)
- Allan Fakir (1980)
- Sohail Rana (1980)
- Khalid Iqbal (1980)
- Aazar Zubi (1980)
- Malika Pukhraj (1980)
- Muhammad Juman (1980)
- Qari Shakir Qasmi (1981)
- Nasir Jahan (1981)
- Mansoor Tabish (1981)
- Qari Syed Ali Sharfuddin Yemni (1981)
- Nanhe Ali Khan (music performer))(1981)
- Roohi Bano (1981)
- Alexander Robert (1981)
- Mai Bhagi (1981)
- Mirza Adeeb (1981)
- Uzma Gillani (1982)
- Qari Ubaidur Rehman (1982)
- Talat Hussain (1982)
- Tufail Niazi (1982)
- Reshma (1982)
- Arsh Muneer (1983)
- Ustad Nazar Hussain (1983)
- Atta Shad (1983)
- Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi (1984)
- Begum Khurshid Mirza (1984)
- Abida Parveen (1984)
- Muhammad Ali (1984)
- Sayed Nafees al-Hussaini, Nafees Raqam (1985)
- Ustad Chhote Ghulam Ali Khan (1985)
- Bundu Khan (1985)
- Mehdi Hasan (1985)
- Shaukat Hussain (1985)
- Qari Ghulam Rasool (1985)
- Siddiq Ismail (1985)
- Abid Ali (1985)
- Syed Mehmood Ali (1985)
- Sabiha Khanum (1986)
- Shahzad Khalil (1986)
- Suraiya Multanikar (1986)
- Firdous Jamal (1986)
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan(1986)
- Azhar Lodhi (1986)
- Riaz Batalvi (1986)
- Intizar Hussain (1986)
- Amjad Islam Amjad (1987)
- Ustad Abdul Majeed Dehlvi (1987)
- Haseena Moin (1987)
- Aadil Salahuddin (1987)
- Sain Akhtar Hussain (1987)
- Qari Izhar Ahmed Thanvi (1987)
- Shaista Zaid (1988)
- Ghulam Hassan Shaggan (1988)
- Mustafa Qureshi (1988)
- Muzaffar Warsi (1988)
- Qazi Wajid (1988)
- Ustad Kabir Khan (1989)
- Ghulam Ahmed Chishti (1989)
- Musarrat Nazir (1989)
- Shafi Mohammad Shah (1989)
- Kamal Ahmed Rizvi (1989)
- Jameel Bismil (1989)
- Bushra Ansari (1989)
- Ameer Khan (1989)
- Amjad Hussain (1989)
- Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (1989)
- Aziz Mian (1989)
- Talish (1989)
- Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak (1989)
- Jamil Naqsh (1989)
- Enver Sajjad (1989)
- Salim Nasir (1990)
- Daud Kamal (1990)
- Khalid Hameed Baig (1990)
- Shaukat Ali (1990)
- Ustad Sadiq Ali Khan Mando (1990)
- Ustad Hamid Ali Khan (1990)
- Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (Gwalior gharana) (1990)
- Mushtaq Gazdar (1990)
- Ahmed Saeed Nagi (1990)
- Qari Mohammad Fida (1990)
- Parveen Shakir (1990)
- Iftikhar Arif (1990)
- Ibrahim Jalees (1990)
- Jamiluddin Aali (1991)
- Khursheed Alam known as Gohar Qalam (1991)
- Khayyam Sarhadi (1991)
- Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi (1991)
- Ata ul Haq Qasmi (1991)
- Nayyar Ali Dada (1992)
- Shakeel (Yousuf Kamal) (1992)
- Noor Mohammad Lashari (1992)
- Tariq Aziz (1992)
- Mustansar Hussain Tarar (1992)
- Pervez Malik (1992)
- Jawed Iqbal (1992)
- Mian Ijazul Hasan (1992)
- Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman (1992)
- Munir Niazi (1992)
- Naseem Hijazi (1992)
- Mian Sheheryar (1992)
- Waheed Qureshi (1993)
- Ismail Shahid (1993)
- Saeed Akhtar (1993)
- Ali Ejaz (1993)
- S.H. Hashmi (1993)
- Syed Manzoorul Kaunain (1993)
- Qari Syed Buzurg Shah Al-Azhari (1993)
- Agha Nasir (1993)
- Farooq Qaiser (1993)
- Bashir Mirza (1994)
- Ahmad Bashir (1994)
- Shahid Jalal (1994)
- Qari Mohammad Younus (1994)
- Qari Syed Ali Abid Naqvi (1994)
- Mehr Abdul Haq (1994)
- Nisar Bazmi (1994)
- Hamid Ali Bela (1994)
- Zareena Baloch (1994)
- Anwar Maqsood (1994)
- Shujaat Hashmi (1994)
- Qateel Shifai (1994)
- Zamir Niazi (1994))
- Tufail Hoshiarpuri (1994)
- Nahid Siddiqui (1994))
- Laeeq Ahmed (1994)
- Abdus Salam (newscaster) (1994)
- Allah Rakha (sarangi) (1995)
- Ustad Talib Hussain Khan (1995)
- Colin David (1995)
- Shoaib Hashmi (1995)
- Rauf Khalid (1995)
- Laila Shahzada (1995)
- Hajra Masroor (1995)
- Khursheed Ahmad (1996)
- Mashooq Sultan (1996)
- Safeerullah Lehri (1996)
- Afzal Ahsan Randhawa (1996)
- Qari Noor Mohammad (1996)
- Rubina Khalid (1996)
- Fatima Surayya Bajia (1996)
- Sehba Akhtar (1996)
- Mohammad Ali Shah (surgeon) (1996)
- Ahmad Rahi (1997)
- Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla (1997)
- Nadeem Baig (1997)
- Abdul Hameed (1997)
- Masroor Anwar (1997)
- Ahmad Ali Khan (1997)
- Akhtar Chanal Zahri (1998)
- Mumtaz Mirza (1998)
- Suhrab Faqir (1999)
- Dilawar Figar (1999)
- Salima Hashmi (1999)
- Anwar Masood (1999)
- Anita Ghulam Ali (1999)
- Zafar Iqbal (poet) (1999)
- Khalid Abbas Dar (1999)
- Khatir Ghaznavi (1999)
- Mujahid Kamran (1999)
- Raza Mir (1999)
- Amjad Parvez (2000)
- Sharif Kunjahi (2000)
- Kamaluddin Ahmed (2001)
- Athar Shah Khan Jaidi (2001)
- Jameel Fakhri (2002)
- Nazia Hassan (2002)
- Deena M. Mistri (2002)
- Askari Mian Irani (2002)
- Himayat Ali Shair (2002)
- Shoaib Mansoor (2002)
- Jilani Kamran (2002)
- Iftikhar Ahmad (2003)
- Ada Jafri (2003)
- Syed Afzal Hussain (2003)
- Syed Munawwar Saeed (2003)
- Abdul Aziz Baloch (2003)
- Ghulam Mustafa (2003)
- Majeed Khan (sarangi player) (2003)
- Muneeza Hashmi (2003)
- Muhammad Ali Siddiqui (2003)
- Imdad Hussaini (2003)
- Muhammad Usman Diplai (2004)
- Yousuf Khan (actor) (2004)
- Mahtab Akbar Rashdi (2004)
- Chishty Bin Subh-o-Mujahid (2004)
- Navid Shahzad (2004)
- Salahuddin Toofani (2004)
- S. M. Naqi (2004)
- Haji Atta Muhammad (2004)
- Moin Niazi (2004)
- Shahida Parveen (2004)
- Tina Sani (2004)
- Niaz Ahmed (2004)
- Samiur Rahman (2004)
- Tariq Rahman (2004)
- Rais Khan (2005)
- Arif Lohar (2005)
- Rangeela (2005)
- Muhammad Mansha Yaad (2005)
- Shabnam Shakeel (2005)
- Abdul Rauf Rufi (2005)
- Khawaja Najmul Hassan (2005)
- Amir Adnan (2006)
- Asghar Nadeem Syed (2006)
- Arshad Mehmood (2006)
- Arfa Karim (2006)
- Nayyar Kamal (2006)
- Tassawar Khanum (2006)
- Ustad Badar uz Zaman (2006)
- Ustad Qamar uz Zaman (2006)
- Shafqat Tanvir Mirza (2006)
- Zehra Nigah (2006)
- Khalida Hussain (2006)
- Ghazi Sial (2006)
- Nayyara Noor (2006)
- Masood Akhtar (2006)
- Aftab Iqbal Shamim (2006)
- Naheed Akhtar (2007)
- Shaan (2007)
- Asad Amanat Ali Khan (2007)
- Hamid Ali Khan (2007)
- Faakhir Mehmood (2007)
- Munnu Bhai (2007)
- Munni Begum (2008)
- Akhtar Munir (2008)
- Gopal Das (2008)
- Haji Mehr Ali (2008)
- Haji Sher Ali (2008)
- Nahid Raza (2008)
- Gul Bahar Bano (2008)
- Mujahid Hussain (2008)
- Rasheed Malik (2008)
- Sultana Siddiqui (2008)
- Abdul Karim Balouch (2008)
- Abdul Qadir Junejo (2008)
- M. Hanif Raza (2008)
- Nasreen Askari (2008)
- Shafqat Amanat Ali (2008)
- Mansoor Rahi (2008)
- Tari Khan (2008)
- Noorul Huda Shah (2008)
- Rasheed Naz (2009)
- Ustad Shafqat Ali Khan (2009)
- Muhammad Younus Khan (2009)
- Emanuel Philip (2009)
- Rehana Siddiqui (2009)
- Shabbir Hussain (2009)
- Manzoor Hussain (2009)
- Parveen Nazzar (2009)
- Javaid Tufail Niazi (2009)
- Babar Ali Niazi (2009)
- Hajra Mansoor (2009)
- Behroze Sabzwari (2009)
- Obaidullah Baig (2009)
- Khalifa Muhammad Irshad Beg (2009)
- Naseem Sultan (2009)
- Ghous Bux Brohi (2009)
- Sahib Dino Mallah (2009)
- Satish Chandra Anand (2009)
- Rubeena Malik (2009)
- Badar Munir (2009)
- Muhammad Gul (2009)
- Mehnaz Hyat (2009)
- Abdul Qadir (2009)
- Ghayyur Akhtar (2009)
- Aslam Farrukhi (2009)
- Ali Moeen Nawazish (2009)
- Afzal Tauseef (2010)
- Musarrat Misbah (2010)
- Rabia Zuberi (2010)
- Zulfiqar Ali (2010)
- Mahmood Shaam (2010)
- Hameed Akhtar (2010)
- Fahmida Riaz (2010)
- Shahid Nadeem (2010)
- Muhammad Ibrahim Joyo (2010)
- Masood Mufti (2010)
- Masood Ashar (2010)
- Habib-ur-Rehman (2011)
- Khalida Inayat Noor (2011)
- Khan Tehsil (2011)
- Abdul Rahim Nagori (2011)
- S. Amjad Bukhari (2011)
- S. B. John (2011)
- S.H. Qasim Jalali (2011)
- Samina Ahmad (2011)
- Sohail Ahmed (2011)
- Ustad Hussain Bukhsh Gullu (2011)
- Khalid Ahmad (2011)
- Ustad Muhammad Alam (2011)
- Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan (2011)
- Wazir Afzal (2011)
- Zafar Kazmi (2011)
- Moin Akhter (2011)
- Sahira Kazmi (2012)
- Mohsin Gillani (2012)
- Nauman Ijaz (2012)
- Saba Hameed (2012)
- Jawed Sheikh (2012)
- Meera (2012)
- Rahat Naveed Masud (2012)
- Lutfullah Khan (2012)
- Kazim Pasha (2012)
- Tahira Syed (2013)
- Muhammad Ajmal Khan (2013)
- Alamgir (2013)
- Shahida Mini (2013)
- Naghma (2013)
- Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema (2013)
- Cecil Chaudhry (2013)
- Shahid Abdullah (2014)
- Ustad Shafiquz Zaman Khan (2014)
- Aurangzeb Leghari (2014)
- Nazir Leghari (2014)
- Ayub Khawar (2014)
- Mir Mohammad Ali (TV comedian) (2015)
- Ayesha Haroon (2015)
- Saleem Kausar (2015)
- Saba Qamar (2016)
- Waseem Abbas (2016)
- Wajahat Masood (journalist) (2016)
- Gulab Chandio (2016)
- Nathoo Khan (2016)
- Khalid Butt (2016)
- Sarmad Khoosat (2017)
- Humaira Channa (2017)
- Ghazi Salahuddin (2017)
- Rashid Mehmood (2017)
- Shakir Shuja Abadi (2017)
- Zulfiqar Bhutta (2017)
- Aslam Pervaiz (2018)
- Ghulam Haider (musician) (2018)
- Amin Hafeez (2018)
- A. Nayyar (singer) (2018)
- Bilqees Khanum (2018)
- Rauf Parekh (journalist) (2018)
- Amanullah (comedian) (2018)
- Nighat Chaudhry (classical dancer) (2018)
- Nighat Butt (2018)
- Zareen Panna (2018)
- Ishrat Fatima (newsreader) (2019)
- Reema Khan (2019)
- Arshad Sharif (journalist) (2019)
- Nasir Adeeb (2019)
- Shabbir Jan (2019)
- Iftikhar Thakur (2019)
- Deeba (2020)
- Ghulam Mohiuddin (2020)
- Sahir Ali Bagga (2020)
- Waris Baig (2020)
- Ghulam Abbas 2020
- Saieen Zahoor (2020)
- Fareed Ayaz (2020)
- Sarmad Sehbai (2021)
- Resham (2021)
- Khalid Masud Gondal (2021)
- Muhammad Javed (2022)
- Hafeez Tahir (2023)
- Sangeeta (2023)
- Sher Miandad Khan (2023)
- Ustad Tafu (2023)
- Anjuman (2023)