Anna Molka Ahmed (1917-1994)Untitled (Landscape)
signed 'Anna Molka' lower right
oil on canvas, framed
66.1 x 51cm (26 x 20 1/16in).FootnotesProvenance
Property from a private collection, USA.
Acquired in Karachi in the mid 1980s.
Anna Molka Ahmed was of Russian and Polish descent and arrived in Lahore, from England in 1939 having married Sheikh Ahmed. She received her formal training in art at St. Martin's School of Art and then at the Royal Academy of Art, which is where she met Sheikh Ahmed, a painter and draughtman. They moved to Lahore in 1940, and she was approached by the University of Punjab to set up the Department of Fine Arts, which she successfully ran until 1978. She was the recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in 1963, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards.
She was a prolific artist whose 'work spans a broad vista ranging from landscapes (as is the case with the present lot), homesteads, portraits, figurative compositions, festivals, to symbolic and allegorical pieces. She is among the few Pakistani painters who draws inspiration from common life and events.' (Ijaz Ul Hassan, Painting in Pakistan, Karachi, 1996, p. 49). The landscape depicted in Untitled (Landscape) bears the hallmarks of her signature style, which include unblended colours and thick gestural strokes of paint. This impasto technique highlights the richness of the landscape and coupled with the swings and bicycle that hint at the proximity of children, helps elevate an ordinary scene to the extraordinary.
Anna Molka Ahmed (1917-1994)Untitled (Landscape)
signed 'Anna Molka' lower right
oil on canvas, framed
66.1 x 51cm (26 x 20 1/16in).FootnotesProvenance
Property from a private collection, USA.
Acquired in Karachi in the mid 1980s.
Anna Molka Ahmed was of Russian and Polish descent and arrived in Lahore, from England in 1939 having married Sheikh Ahmed. She received her formal training in art at St. Martin's School of Art and then at the Royal Academy of Art, which is where she met Sheikh Ahmed, a painter and draughtman. They moved to Lahore in 1940, and she was approached by the University of Punjab to set up the Department of Fine Arts, which she successfully ran until 1978. She was the recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in 1963, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards.
She was a prolific artist whose 'work spans a broad vista ranging from landscapes (as is the case with the present lot), homesteads, portraits, figurative compositions, festivals, to symbolic and allegorical pieces. She is among the few Pakistani painters who draws inspiration from common life and events.' (Ijaz Ul Hassan, Painting in Pakistan, Karachi, 1996, p. 49). The landscape depicted in Untitled (Landscape) bears the hallmarks of her signature style, which include unblended colours and thick gestural strokes of paint. This impasto technique highlights the richness of the landscape and coupled with the swings and bicycle that hint at the proximity of children, helps elevate an ordinary scene to the extraordinary.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
