Image and Identity - Painting and Sculpture in Pakistan, 1947-1997  (English, Paperback, Naqvi Akbar)

This book is essentially written as a reference point for the general reader interested in or doing research on the history of Pakistani art. It focuses on painting and sculpture as the two mediums of art in the subcontinent. This book will also prove to be useful for academics, students and teachers of the History of Art. The first two chapters of the book present the period of the downfall of Mughal art, the materialisation of the East India Company art, and the eventual Western style of the Raj art form. The author presents Pakistani art as a distinguished aspect of Muslim heritage of the subcontinent. Works of several pioneers of modern art, such as Zubeida Agha and Shakir Ali are analysed in detail. Particular focus is given to how modern Pakistani artists juxtapose cubism and abstract images with the traditional subcontinental style of art, using the rich heritage to make individual expressions that our culture is familiar with and can relate to. A chapter is dedicated to the women artists of Pakistan, who are using their art as a medium to define and represent their emerging independence as the current context of gender awareness would have it. The chapter on sculpture exposes, for the first time, the vibrancy and growth of this medium in Pakistan. The book is divided into 10 chapters and provides a wide variety of illustrations.