Putting Mughal Art to art

LAHORE – FD Toor’s paintings, an artist who started to paint out of pleasure after the age of 60, were works of art that even a professional painter would admire. Mostly Mughal, the title of the exhibition, is currently displayed at the Alhamra Art Gallery, which is showing about 60 paintings, most of them done in water colour – one of the most difficult mediums to work in for an artist – while the others are pencils sketches in black and white.
For Toor, now 70 years old, painting was something that he wanted to do any way, but could only devote his time to it after he took retirement from his job. Even then, he did not take classes or diplomas. Instead, he is proud of the fact that he is self taught. This is his fourth exhibition. “I have always been truly inspired by the Mughal architecture especially since this is part of our national and religious heritage,” says Toor.
“The Mughals are all about beauty. Their calligraphy, architectural designs, tiles, panels, flowers, are all expressed so beautifully and aesthetically that it is very inspirational. I am surprised and disappointed that so many young people have not seen these buildings.” He points out that since many Muslims believe that portraits of humans should not be painted, even the Mughals usually resorted to painting in geometric designs and flowery patterns.
“In actuality I have only tried to translate these buildings onto paper, so that people can see them without moving from their places, but still I hope that these buildings are seen by many,” says Toor. For Toor, painting in water colour is something that he communicates into a line out of Ahmad Faraz’s couplet ‘Aik hi shakhs ko mehboob banaye rakhna’ (Only keep one person as your lover).
“This is what I say to those who ask me to paint in other mediums,” he says laughing. But of course one medium must be completely explored first in order to even begin to move on to others. Meanwhile, Toor has painted some pictures on location, like the Wazir Mosque, the Diwan-e-Aam, Lahore Fort, and other buildings Locations which were relatively quieter places to paint at, without any disturbance, Toor translated instantly onto paper, but there were other places like the Gulabi Bagh whose gate opens directly onto the GT Road, and was therefore very difficult to paint on location.
“There was noise and too many people used to gather around,” says the artist. “It was not possible to collect your thoughts so I just made a sketch and put in a few shades from my colour palette.” Kamil Khan Mumtaz, a well known architect and scholar, who was invited as the chief guest for the opening of the art exhibition, expressed his delight at seeing the paintings.
“He has come a long way for someone who has had no formal education in art, and in fact I admire the fact that he has developed his own style so fast,” says Mumtaz. “Also the artist has drawn attention to our heritage through our subjects.” Toor’s needle-thin outlines and sharp straight lines presented an impressive imitation of the monuments that he has been inspired by.
Likewise pencil sketches that he did were also razor sharp, unlike the thick and smudgy charcoal counterparts, but the exact detail that he has produced of markets like Kashmiri Bazaar, and view from jharokas of old buildings and rooftops is nothing short of splendid.
His sketches may be black and white but the colourful life they invoke is wondrous. In his paintings too, close ups of tile work, and panel designs are also quite remarkable.