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Lot Essay
The present painting is one of only four works signed by the remarkable and defiantly individual Muhammad Murad Samarqandi. The front cover of the recent main catalogue of the Louvre showcases the extraordinary importance of one of his best-known and iconic works, for which our artist composed the borders, see Makariou (ed.), 2012, cover. As the only recorded folio for which our artist is responsible for both the borders and the main image, the present work is arguably the most impressive and complete example of all his known works.
Of the little remaining biographical information for Muhammad Murad Samarqandi, it has been said that he was a portrait painter who was born in Samarqand and worked in Bukhara between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries (Foltz, 1998, p.57). While his style remains somewhat enigmatic, it developed at a time where Samarkand and Bukhara were surrounded by major artistic powerhouses, Iran and India. Under Shah ‘Abbas (r.1587-1629), Iran saw a new lease of life with the innovative Isfahan style, led by Reza ‘Abbasi, while India underwent exciting new artistic developments under Akbar (r.1556-1605) and particularly his successor, Jahangir (r.1605-1627).
Bukhara witnessed a similar period of artistic transition in the last quarter of the sixteenth century (Schmitz, 2000, p. 529). The Bukharan style of painting in the mid-sixteenth century was characterised by its careful restraint and economy of detail, complemented by a localised concentration of intricate pattern. Following the Uzbeks' conquest of Khorassan from the Safavids in 1586 AD, Bukhara was subject to new artistic influences from Mashhad and Herat. In Khorassan, the production of late-Safavid works demonstrates more energetic and emotive compositions, much like the work of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi (see Simpson, 1997, nos.122 and 130, pp.198 and 218). The complex compositions and the detail of the figures’ expressions are comparable to our artist’s recorded works, and suggest that such works may have influenced his own style.
The spirited style of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi masterfully exemplifies these artistic developments whilst also displaying the artist’s own ingenuity. In this regard, Robert Skelton draws attention to Muhammad Murad’s contribution to a copy of Sa’di’s Bustan, located in the Chester Beatty Library (Ms.Pers.297, ff. 159b and 184). Skelton notes how the violent and exciting contrast between the vivid colours of the picnic scene (f. 184) contributed to an intensely personal style that rebelled against the typically Bukharan style of his contemporary Muhammad Darvish (Skelton, 1995, pp.279-281). While the brightly coloured leaves and twisted trunks reprise motifs of Bukharan painting, the overtly expressive faces and the swooning colours of the sky are comparable with the present painting in demonstrating a dynamism unique to our artist.
The best-known examples of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi’s artistic output comprise two iconic album pages, whose borders are signed by our artist, surrounding the main image by Muhammad Sharif. They once formed a double-page opening, and are currently housed in the Louvre, Paris (inv.no.OA 7109) and noted above, and the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (inv.no.S1986.304). While the accomplished but lively style of Muhammad Sharif’s central figures displays a knowledge of both Bukharan and Khorassani painting at that time, the vibrant and dynamic borders reveal the influence that our artist exerted over his contemporary (Skelton, p.279). The dense composition of the central figures’ robe formed of interlocking figures reflects the playful, hallucinatory composition of the profusely decorated borders. This has led Skelton to consider that “…Whatever their relative status in the studio, there is no question as to who was the inspired master” (ibid., p.282).
As the composition of the present scene is less dense than these album pages, it bears witness to the true virtuosity of our artist. The space between the figures in the borders allow the artist to showcase his mastery of the flowing arabesque form which Skelton aptly describes as almost calligraphic in their execution (ibid.). These leafy borders, nonetheless, maintain the artist’s characteristic playfulness as they gradually uncover animals, both real and mythical, including dragons engaged in combat, a rabbit and numerous birds. The hypnotic arabesques are matched with the swirling, marbled colours of the sky and the steps in the main image. The liveliness of these colours is further heightened by the comical episodes of the border and the almost caricature-like faces of the scene enclosed within.
Although this work is among only four known works signed by our artist, other works have been attributed to him on stylistic grounds. Among them is a portrait of a ‘Puzzling Amir of Bukhara’ (published in S.C. Welch, Wonders of the Age, Harvard, 1979, pp. 204-5, no. 80, and attributed by Welch to Shaykh Muhammad). Two studies of dervishes in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, (in E. Blochet, Musulman Painting, London, 1929, pls. CLV and CC) may also be the work of our artist given the similar stylised treatment of the child’s face on the latter (ibid., pl. CC). The final work is a drawing in the Fogg Art Museum known as the ‘Mystical Journey’ (published in A. Welch, Shah ‘Abbas & the Arts of Isfahan, New York, 1973, pp.92-3, no.59). Although Welch attributes this drawing to Isfahan, Skelton suggests that Muhammad Murad Samarqandi is a more likely artist given the “vigorous fantasy” displayed in the work (Skelton, p. 283).
This work, bearing the signature of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi, is a masterpiece of a truly great and extremely rare artist, creating his own individual style at a time of profound change and development in the Iranian and Indian artistic worlds.
Of the little remaining biographical information for Muhammad Murad Samarqandi, it has been said that he was a portrait painter who was born in Samarqand and worked in Bukhara between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries (Foltz, 1998, p.57). While his style remains somewhat enigmatic, it developed at a time where Samarkand and Bukhara were surrounded by major artistic powerhouses, Iran and India. Under Shah ‘Abbas (r.1587-1629), Iran saw a new lease of life with the innovative Isfahan style, led by Reza ‘Abbasi, while India underwent exciting new artistic developments under Akbar (r.1556-1605) and particularly his successor, Jahangir (r.1605-1627).
Bukhara witnessed a similar period of artistic transition in the last quarter of the sixteenth century (Schmitz, 2000, p. 529). The Bukharan style of painting in the mid-sixteenth century was characterised by its careful restraint and economy of detail, complemented by a localised concentration of intricate pattern. Following the Uzbeks' conquest of Khorassan from the Safavids in 1586 AD, Bukhara was subject to new artistic influences from Mashhad and Herat. In Khorassan, the production of late-Safavid works demonstrates more energetic and emotive compositions, much like the work of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi (see Simpson, 1997, nos.122 and 130, pp.198 and 218). The complex compositions and the detail of the figures’ expressions are comparable to our artist’s recorded works, and suggest that such works may have influenced his own style.
The spirited style of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi masterfully exemplifies these artistic developments whilst also displaying the artist’s own ingenuity. In this regard, Robert Skelton draws attention to Muhammad Murad’s contribution to a copy of Sa’di’s Bustan, located in the Chester Beatty Library (Ms.Pers.297, ff. 159b and 184). Skelton notes how the violent and exciting contrast between the vivid colours of the picnic scene (f. 184) contributed to an intensely personal style that rebelled against the typically Bukharan style of his contemporary Muhammad Darvish (Skelton, 1995, pp.279-281). While the brightly coloured leaves and twisted trunks reprise motifs of Bukharan painting, the overtly expressive faces and the swooning colours of the sky are comparable with the present painting in demonstrating a dynamism unique to our artist.
The best-known examples of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi’s artistic output comprise two iconic album pages, whose borders are signed by our artist, surrounding the main image by Muhammad Sharif. They once formed a double-page opening, and are currently housed in the Louvre, Paris (inv.no.OA 7109) and noted above, and the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (inv.no.S1986.304). While the accomplished but lively style of Muhammad Sharif’s central figures displays a knowledge of both Bukharan and Khorassani painting at that time, the vibrant and dynamic borders reveal the influence that our artist exerted over his contemporary (Skelton, p.279). The dense composition of the central figures’ robe formed of interlocking figures reflects the playful, hallucinatory composition of the profusely decorated borders. This has led Skelton to consider that “…Whatever their relative status in the studio, there is no question as to who was the inspired master” (ibid., p.282).
As the composition of the present scene is less dense than these album pages, it bears witness to the true virtuosity of our artist. The space between the figures in the borders allow the artist to showcase his mastery of the flowing arabesque form which Skelton aptly describes as almost calligraphic in their execution (ibid.). These leafy borders, nonetheless, maintain the artist’s characteristic playfulness as they gradually uncover animals, both real and mythical, including dragons engaged in combat, a rabbit and numerous birds. The hypnotic arabesques are matched with the swirling, marbled colours of the sky and the steps in the main image. The liveliness of these colours is further heightened by the comical episodes of the border and the almost caricature-like faces of the scene enclosed within.
Although this work is among only four known works signed by our artist, other works have been attributed to him on stylistic grounds. Among them is a portrait of a ‘Puzzling Amir of Bukhara’ (published in S.C. Welch, Wonders of the Age, Harvard, 1979, pp. 204-5, no. 80, and attributed by Welch to Shaykh Muhammad). Two studies of dervishes in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, (in E. Blochet, Musulman Painting, London, 1929, pls. CLV and CC) may also be the work of our artist given the similar stylised treatment of the child’s face on the latter (ibid., pl. CC). The final work is a drawing in the Fogg Art Museum known as the ‘Mystical Journey’ (published in A. Welch, Shah ‘Abbas & the Arts of Isfahan, New York, 1973, pp.92-3, no.59). Although Welch attributes this drawing to Isfahan, Skelton suggests that Muhammad Murad Samarqandi is a more likely artist given the “vigorous fantasy” displayed in the work (Skelton, p. 283).
This work, bearing the signature of Muhammad Murad Samarqandi, is a masterpiece of a truly great and extremely rare artist, creating his own individual style at a time of profound change and development in the Iranian and Indian artistic worlds.