Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin
Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin (19 December 1880 – 1 January 1964) was an Indian painter and artist who is known as one of the founders of modern Indian painting. One of the first Indians to study at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he rejected his western academic training to paint in a distinctly Indian style, inspired by traditional Rajasthani paintings and Mughal miniatures. He married Atiya Begum, a pioneering Muslim intellectual and feminist with whom he also collaborated creatively. Globally acclaimed by the 1920s, his most significant work was the frescoes he did on the Imperial Secretariat in New Delhi towards the end of the 1920s. Following the Partition of India, he emigrated to Pakistan with his wife where he died in poverty in Karachi in 1964.
Early life and education
Fyzee-Rahamin was born on 19 December 1880 in
Career
Baroda
On his return from
Marriage and collaboration with Atiya Begum
In 1912 he converted to Islam to marry Atiya Begum, a classical singer and writer. The couple took each other's surnames and he changed his to Fyzee-Rahamin.[6] They collaborated on several exhibitions and travelled the world in pursuit of their artistic careers.[7] Samuel held his first exhibition at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris in 1914. In subsequent years, his works were show cased at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, at the Arthur Tooth & Sons Gallery in London in 1926 under the title "Water-Colors, India, Vedic, Mythological and Contemporary" and at the American Art Association in New York City in 1939 as "Modern Indian Art, on traditional lines".[8][9][10] His assistance was obtained by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum in reorganizing their collections of Asian art.[11][12] Atiya Begum was a creative collaborator at these exhibitions holding musical programs alongside the shows. Her book, Indian Music, subsequently republished as The Music of India, was co-authored with Samuel who also provided its illustrative paintings.[13][14]
Frescoes at the Imperial Secretariat
The
Writings
Fyzee-Rahamin authored the three act
Notable paintings
An early example of Fyzee-Rahamin's
In Pakistan
The Fyzee-Rahamins moved to Karachi, Pakistan in 1948 at the invitation of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Their house on Burns Road, Karachi was named Aiwan-i-Rifat after their residence in Bombay. A few years later, they were later evicted from this home and lived in relative poverty in a local hotel with their friends and well wishers helping pay their bills. Samuel died on 1 January 1964 and he left his collection of paintings to his wife. Atiya regained possession of the Aiwan-e-Rifat after much litigation and entered into an agreement with the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation making it a trustee to the Aiwan-e-Rifat, which she hoped would be turned into a museum to exhibit their work. There exists today a Fyzee Rahamin Art Gallery but proposals to build an auditorium and cultural centre at the site have faced repeated delays.[34][35][36][37][38]
Artistic style and legacy
Fyzee-Rahamin's oeuvre consisted of
References
- ^ "Samuel Fyzee Rahamin". www.open.ac.uk. The Open University. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ISBN 978-981-10-7557-5. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Mumbai: Rustom Sisodia's Retrospective Show Exhibits Realism And Fantasy". Mash India. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Chapter-VII Culture and Modernization in the Baroda State" (PDF). Smt Hansa Mehta Library, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Jaradi, Priya (2011). Fashioning India's National Art: Baroda's Royal Collection, Art Institutions and Crafts at Colonial Exhibitions (1875-1924) (PDF). National University of Singapore. p. 131. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Silliman, Jael (20 December 2014). "Book Review: Indian heritage and its Jewish influences". Business Standard India. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Zakaria, Rafik (8 January 2014). "The poets and the feminist". Frontline. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- JSTOR 862523. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- JSTOR 771703. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Bailey, Stephanie. "Speech Acts: Reflection–Imagination– Repetition at the Manchester Art Gallery" (PDF). Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin 1880–1964". Tate. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Bailey, Stephanie. "Speech Acts: Reflection–Imagination– Repetition at the Manchester Art Gallery" (PDF). Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Vawda, Hassan. "Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin: the first Muslim artist in the Tate collection | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Ahmed, Khaled (21 February 2019). "High or Hybrid". Newsweek Pakistan. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- JSTOR 23930983. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ISBN 978-81-230-2130-0.
- ISBN 978-81-230-2130-0.
- JSTOR 23930983. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Indian Painting and Sculpture (Fyzee Rahamin)". 1947. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Indian Writing in English, Paper VIII - M.A. English (Final) (PDF). Rohtak: Directorate of Distance Education, Maharshi Dayanand University. 2004. p. 63. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-134-21689-5. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- OCLC 186884920. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- S2CID 142867197. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Wasti, Syed Tanvir (July–December 2014). "The Turkish Component of the 1908 European Travelogue of Nazli Rafia, Begum of Janjira". Pakistan Perspectives. 19 (2): 10. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Relia, Anil (12 October 2010). The Indian Portrait: An artistic journey from miniature to modern. Archer Art Gallery. p. 54. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Jaradi, Priya (2011). Fashioning India's National Art: Baroda's Royal Collection, Art Institutions and Crafts at Colonial Exhibitions (1875-1924) (PDF). NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE. p. 131. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Portrait of Rosalind Adler". www.benuricollection.org.uk. Ben Uri Collection. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Portrait of Atiya Fyzee (1877–1967) | Yale University Art Gallery". artgallery.yale.edu. Yale University Art Gallery. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- S2CID 234438405. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "A Rajput Sirdar". artuk.org. Art UK. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Relia, Anil; Parimoo, Dr Ratan (18 November 2014). The Indian Portrait - 5: Colonial influence on Raja Ravi Varma and his Contemporaries. Archer Art Gallery. p. 118. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Zakaria, Rafia (25 December 2013). "Art and abandonment". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-86189-636-0. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Zakaria, Rafia (25 December 2013). "Art and abandonment". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Salman, Peerzada (30 June 2015). "Fyzee Rahamin gallery: 'to be or not to be'". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Khalique, Harris (15 September 2019). "Column: Portrait of a Nation". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "The ever lingering fate of the Fyzee Rahamin Art Gallery". The Express Tribune. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Newsclippings: July to December 2018 - KMC Local Body" (PDF). Urban Resource Centre, Karachi.
- ^ Silliman, Jael (20 December 2014). "Book Review: Indian heritage and its Jewish influences". Business Standard India. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- JSTOR 29754471. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Vawda, Hassan. "Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin: the first Muslim artist in the Tate collection | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-86189-636-0. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- JSTOR 23930983. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Vawda, Hassan. "Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin: the first Muslim artist in the Tate collection | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Vawda, Hassan. "Samuel Fyzee-Rahamin: the first Muslim artist in the Tate collection | Art UK". artuk.org. Retrieved 20 August 2022.