SNEAK PREVIEW OF INTRODUCTION OF PROPOSED BOOK,
ON ETCHINGS AND AQUATINTS M.A. RAHMAN  CHUGHTAI

All dedicated works are meaningless without the input of financial considerations. In a country where the State is least concerned with Ideology or Aesthetics to define itself, and the only moving force is GREED, forgetting the valour of those who create the country. It seems today acquisitions are the driving force of our nation, where Truth has become alien to society.  We were planning a book on the valid contribution of Chughtai artist to the Graphic Arts, and realize under the present condition it is an impossible dream. Even those who are eager for it to be written are very miserly towards its actual possibilities. An introduction was written, so we present the same as part of our blog to get the message across the world. Some English faces associated with the artist in the field and some etchings. Enjoy!

Background

The career of Abdur Rahman Chughtai started with his experiment in various fields. The one which stuck with him was photography. With one of those old Wooden box cameras, with Zeis lens, he stumbled into photography. From there the progress to Photo-lithography was a natural conclusion. After taking his certificate from the Railway Technical School in 1911, he enrolled in the Mayo School of Arts in search of a printing career. The diploma from Mayo was around 1915. After that he joined the Mayo School of Arts in the Photo-lithography section. In no time he was heading the department, and teaching other students. A group photograph at Mayo School of Arts in  1918, verifies the same position. With the title of a Munshi, he was sent to the Archaeological Survey of India head office for advanced learning. A certificate of 1919 clarifies his position of same. The date is from 21st July, to 4th September, 1919, and he is certified as well up in the mark of half-tone etching. These 43 days of training set the pace of his career in etchings. Obviously this enquiry is about his career in etchings only, and we have not touched other things at this time.

Moving forward in Etchings as an Engraver

The design impulse was rampant in him, and through designs, he created the urge to do dust covers, both for friends, as well as clients. In fact it was a continuation of work on new technology on the guidelines of his original naqashi mentor, Baba Miran Baksh. The printing training was being used for line printing. Obviously not satisfied with outcomes, he moved towards the city of London for advanced training. It was in 1931-32, that he made his first etching, under the guidance of private mentor, Etcher Smart. The artist complained that his mentor was very parochial in spirit, and when working on any specialized  process of etching, would turn his pupil out of the room. Although the basis for engraving was laid in that visit, nothing special could be done. His first etching was “Under the Arch”, and it is a small scale plate work. But professionals have even praised that output of his as an exceptional first one. It is pure luck that a print of the same has survived the times. The quest for engraving was ever more.

In the Indian region no importance was paid to the Art of Etching. Abindaranath Tagore was persuaded to try the same, but could only end up with the joke of the print being “His first hatching”. This is in itself documented by Indian Art historians. A lot of various print techniques were going on in India from the 16th century, but mostly Biblical subjects by priests in India. No relation to Fine Arts. It is said that various Indians tried their luck, but it was firstly Mukul Chandra Dey, who was sent abroad for learning etching skills. He was part of the Kala Bhavan Club set by Rabindarnath Tagore at Santiniketan in 1919.

“The new era in Indian art began with the establishment of Kala Bhavan at Santiniketan in 1919 by Rabindranath Tagore. The creative atmosphere of the newly established art college received a new energy in the graphic art movement in India when in 1921 Nandalal Bose took charge of Kala Bhavan. Mukul Chandra Dey was also part of the club.”

What they produced is not known, and no headway could be made in the etching field. It was probably in the 1950s that serious undertaking started in the field of etching in India. This was when progress in the etchings field in the grand traditions of European Masters was already underway in Pakistan. And only the artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai was heading that movement in Pakistan. Yes, no doubt, the artist Chughtai was the pioneer of such work in Pakistan, and amongst the very first founders in the Indian region. Of course the Indian Art historian is blind on the subject.