Ten paintings by the late Anwar Jalal Shemza were removed from the Islamabad-based National Art Gallery (NAG) recently and handed over to the artist’s legal heirs. The decision was taken by Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) director general, Dr Fouzia Saeed, on August 17.

However, the National Artists’ Association of Pakistan (NAAP) and several artists and some of the former directors-general of the PNCA have resented the return of the paintings. They have said that the paintings were part of the permanent collection of the National Art Gallery and not a loan.

In 1985 Mary Shemza, the wife of AJ Shemza, had brought over 100 paintings by her husband to Pakistan from the UK for the purpose of exhibition in Lahore.

“The exhibition was organised at the Alhamra after the National College of Arts (NCA) refused to exhibit Shemza’s paintings,” says Naeem Tahir.

“All the paintings were priced between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 because Shemza was not very well known in the art market back then. His wife wanted Shemza’s work admired and recognized. She herself announced that she would gift 10 paintings to the National Art Gallery. It is always an honour for the artists to have their work at prestigious galleries so that they should be remembered when they are no more and their work should be recognized,” Tahir says.

“Over the years, Shemza’s paintings remained on the walls of the National Art Gallery. They also appeared in the NAG catalogues as part of the permanent collection, not as loaned ones,” Tahir says. He denies that Mary Shemza wrote a letter to the PNCA, the Foreign Office or any other government department during his tenure at the NAG. “I met with Mary Shemza when she visited Pakistan in 2007 and 2009. She only enquired about the safe display of the paintings, but never asked for their return.”

NAAP chairperson Mian Ijazul Hassan too says the paintings were a gift. “AJ Shemza had been associated with the NCA. Mary Shemza had wanted to exhibit his work at the NCA. After the NCA management refused to organise the exhibition, it was put on display at Alhamra Gallery. Each painting was priced around at around Rs 4,000. No painting was sold. Disappointed, Mary Shemza gifted a few paintings to some individuals and 10 to the National Art Gallery,” Hassan recalls.

“Each painting was priced at around Rs 4,000. None of those sold. Disappointed, Mary Shemza gifted a few paintings to some individuals and 10 to the National Art Gallery,” recalls NAAP chairperson Mian Ijazul Hassan.

Hassan says he never heard of a claim by Mary Shemza for a return of the paintings until 2017 when Asma Jahangir wrote a letter to the PNCA on behalf of her client.

In 2017, artist Jamal Shah was the PNCA director general. He acknowledges that Asma Jahangir had written a letter about the paintings. “We looked up at the PNCA and found no clue that the paintings were ‘loaned’. Eventually, we wrote back asking for some evidence in support of the claim. She never replied. However, when I was nearing the end of my tenure, Shafqat Mahmood asked me to return the paintings to someone in Lahore. I refused even though this made him really angry.”

“The paintings have been ‘returned’ to a niece of the artist. This decision has been taken illegally, in haste and secretively. The documents presented as evidence should have gone through forensic tests to ascertain the truth. This has depleted our national treasure of art,” says Shah.

In her official statement, Dr Fouzia Saeed said: “It surprises me to read the reaction from certain quarters upon returning of paintings to Mary Shamza by the PNCA after she loaned it to the institution 35 years ago. This should have been done decades ago. Keeping someone’s artwork by force without their consent or remuneration is a violation of the artist’s rights. Both the PNCA and Mary Shemza are clear that paintings were loaned for some time and were to be returned. These two are the main stakeholders; therefore, the matter should not be complicated. The PNCA’s Board gave a unanimous decision on this issue.” “Mary Shamza had organised an exhibition to Pakistan in 1985 called Roots, consisting of more than 100 paintings by her husband. The exhibition was organised at four places all over Pakistan. The PNCA was the host. At the time of her return to London, the PNCA asked her to loan five drawings and five paintings for continued display. We have the receipt in our records.”

The writer is a freelance journalist and broadcaster and can be contacted at: devcom.pakistan@gmail.com