A giant of Pakistani art world passes away

LAHORE

Colin David, one of the giants in the world of Pakistani arts and perhaps the greatest figurative artist and one of the best teacher in the genre of painting passed away in a local hospital at 5 pm on Monday after a prolonged illness.

Born in December 1937, Colin David was respected, admired and adored by his teachers, contemporary artists and his students for the last five decades in the world of arts in Pakistan. Colin David was one of the last few giants in fine arts who had their own particular identification for their mastery over their craft. He was very popular among his friends and students for his bluntness, socialising, friendliness, jolly nature and his command over figurative drawing for which he had attainted the status of an institution I his own right.

His funeral will be held at the Christian graveyard at Jail Road near Lahore Gymkhana at 12 noon on Tuesday (Today).Colin has left behind a widow, two daughters and a son. He was very popular among his students, fellow artists and his personal friends and family members not only because of his grand stature as artist but also as a friendly, pro-human, thoroughly professional and encouraging teacher and human being.

According to his 45 years long friend and student Prof Asif, a renowned artist himself, “He was a very cool minded, sweet and jolly person. He would rarely become angry. He had a unique and unmatchable command over figurative drawing and would not involve much in colours since he would lay his emphasis on drawing and contours. He was a great teacher and wanted to teach in the proper manner .He was very friendly with his students and would always encourage those who had some potential.”

In this regard, RM Naeem, a young artist who was a student and friend of Colin David and now considered as one of the most celebrated contemporary artists of the new generation said, “Mr David was one of my most favourite teacher and a very good friend. He

called me one of his youngest friends. He was an excellent teacher and a great artist who have not only made the Pakistani artists proud of him but he made the country proud of him abroad too.”

Colin David had a very impressive academic profile, which started with Fine Arts department at Punjab University Lahore and postgraduate Study at Slade School of Fine Art University College, London.

He held over 15 solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Pakistan and abroad. He was awarded a gold medal by Dyal Singh College Lahore in 1960, a gold medal by Punjab University Lahore, first prize by Punjab Council Lahore in 1977, Quaid-E-Azam Award in 1979, President’s award in 1982 and a president medal for Pride of Performance in 1995.

One of the most acknowledged art critics in the country, Marjorie Hussain writes that in the early 1970s, Colin David’s work inspired new art collectors emerging in the expanding city of Karachi. At that time, the artist had to his credit a master’s in fine arts from the Punjab University and had then proceeded to the Slade School, London, for further training. When he returned to join the National College of Arts, Lahore, as an instructor, he was a painter who, on skilfully painted canvases, combined intuitive grasp of composition, tactile understanding and admiration of the human form. His work was much in demand by the existing galleries, and praised by the media. As the climate of art changed, the artist’s signature work in the classic genre was seen less and less in exhibitions. In the changing atmosphere, he was represented by contemporary, minimal ‘still life’ paintings and mysterious ‘landscapes’ with barren trees.

In a curious way, the human form, overtly absent from these canvases, was to all intents and purposes, part of the scene. It was there in the spatial contents of the work; to the imaginative, the air of strange anticipation reverberating from the surface of the work made it seem a figure would step from behind the tall form of a tree and take its rightful place in the overall composition. Often David incorporated elements of ‘op’ art in his imagery, the optical illusion of lines, rings and squares that created an illusion of movement as explored by artists in the 1960s.

Colin David never abandoned his muse but he showed his studio work to a selected audience. Many of his pieces went to foreign art collectors and are lost to us. Through the years, he has exhibited regularly in Karachi and maintained his popularity. Now after decades, currently at the Clifton Art Gallery, he exhibited a collection of 30 pieces dominated by a central figure seen in an atmosphere of playful domesticity.

Colin’s work is always interesting, painting in the refined tradition of the Slade, he is an unsung art hero. One of the most popular artists of the ‘70s, he has ultimately made his sufferings a triumph. His is a story that may fascinate artists in generation to come.