Murtaja Baseer’s limited edition serigraphy portfolio available at Galleri Kaya

Veteran artist Murtaja Baseer is one of the finest drawing exponents in our country and his drawings are an effectual mirror of the character's personality and insight.

Baseer's beloved wife Amina Baseer died on May 13 in 2017. Needless to say that it was extremely shocking for him and he would bear the pain till the last day of his life. The painter has in total done twelve sketches on his wife in different periods in different circumstances. The couple happily married on May 27 in 1962. He first drew his wife on July 17 in the year of his marriage. In the same month, he drew four more portraits and the last one he did on July 28. In the month of December of the same year, the painter was invited from the Pakistan Arts Council in Lahore where his thirty paintings were displayed, these being done with oil, lacquer and enamel paint. Under the title "Paintings: July-October 1962", the exhibition was held from December 10 to December 19. The same exhibition was held in Rawalpindi and it was organised by the Society for Contemporary Arts. During that time, he portrayed his wife on the back flap of the brochure. The drawing was done by ball-pen. After a long pause, the painter drew two drawings in 1974 of his wife and then again he tinted two more drawings in 1975. Among the drawings of his wife, the drawings from 1974 and 1975 are comparatively meticulous, time consuming and very detailed in terms of his use of lines.

After a lengthy hiatus, Baseer again sketched his beloved wife in 1988 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). The drawing was done on 5th of October. The drawing has been done by ink and here the lovely woman wore glasses and looks quite fair and unique from other portraitures. In this piece Baseer has used some sweet lines and the lines provide us with an intense clarity about the character.

For the last time when Baseer drew his dearly loved wife was March 30 this year from a photograph of the lady as she was no more available in person. The painter has never copied from any photograph---this is one of his fortes. He has portrayed it with the medium of lead. March 30 marked the 78th birth anniversary of Amina Baseer.

The drawings denote varied moods of the woman. Baseer likes to portray both emotions and adoration in same frame. Portrays seeming to be in motion and articulation of an untold story are the noticeable aspects of his works. Appearing in motion, his subjects have a realistic attachment with lines articulating profound romanticism. The drawings provide us with a deep essence about the meaning of life, affection and quintessence.

Galleri Kaya, one of the leading full-fledged galleries in the country has taken a praiseworthy initiative to make a folio with a set of twelve serigraphs in thirty editions taken from the treasured twelve drawings of Baseer. The galleriest-cum-painter Goutam Chakraborty of Kaya wants to popularise the medium of serigraphy among the artists of different genres and he sincerely seeks to provide the folio of the serigraph to art aficionados in the country.

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