Untitled

Abdur Rahman Chughtai is remembered today as the most distinguished Pakistani artist of the 20th century although much of his work reflects a common South Asian cultural heritage. Chughtai began his training at the Mayo School of Art in Lahore in 1911. There he was taught by Samarendranath Gupta, who was himself a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore. The influence of the Bengal School is visible in Chughtai's early work, but what distinguishes Chughtai is his exceptional skill as a draughtsman. Above all, he painted in larger formats which gave him the opportunity to indulge in exceptional compositions with bold flowing lines. He portrayed famous personalities from Islamic history and depicted scenes from religious and Mughal texts.