Ustad Allah Baksh was a classical musician from Pakistan who was known for his exceptional skills on the sitar. He was a master of Indian classical music and had a deep understanding of the tradition and its principles. Ustad Allah Baksh was known for his technical mastery of the sitar and his ability to play complex melodies with ease. He had a unique style of playing that involved a creative interpretation of traditional compositions, and he was skilled at improvising and creating beautiful melodies on the spot. Ustad Allah Baksh was a dedicated musician who spent many years perfecting his skills and developing his unique style, and his contributions to classical music have had a lasting impact.

1. Submitted by: Iffat Shareef
Submitted to: Sir Irfan
Roll no: 27 (M)
Department: BS-URDU
Topic Name: Ustad Allah Baksh

2. Ustad Allah Baksh
Whenever our folk culture and life will be talked about, the name
of Ustad Allah Baksh will stand out prominently. He was the man
who immortalized our rural life, and specially of the Punjab – the
land where he was born in 1885 in the small town of Wazirabad.
His very near-to-life life-size paintings are full of colour, life and
people that forces an onlooker to stop in his tracks and appreciate
his masterly work of art.

3. • Ustad Allah Bakhsh (c. 1895 – 18 October 1978; sometimes spelled Allah Bux or Allah
Bukhsh) was a Pakistani painter and calligrapher who was actively involved
in aesthetics and classical landscape paintings throughout his life.
• Most of his work revolves around traditional tales of Persian and Hindu mythology. The
recipient of national literary award, the Pride of Performance in 1963, he is primarily
recognized for depicting tragic love stories of Sohni Mahiwal, Heer Ranjha and Tilism-e-
Hoshruba, an epic story of Amir Hamza, a legendary Persian adventurer. Sometimes, he
used to depict traditional festivals of Punjab. Some of his work he produced
after independence was acquired by the National Art Gallery.
Life and background
• He was born around 1895 in British India (in modern-day Wazirabad, Pakistan).
He spent most of his life in Lahore. At first, he attended a Madrasa to study Urdu
and Arabic, however, he subsequently left school. His father was a house
painter who used to work at Mughalpura Railway Workshop

4. Elements of His Paintings
• He was inspired by the approach and technique of Archibald Herman Müller, the German
citizen who lived and worked in India and was considered as the great talent of the 20th
century. The elements of the painting are the basic components and building blocks of a
painting. In the painting of Allah Bakhsh color or hue is the heart of his painting the use
appealing color schemes gives the idea of satisfying aesthetic standards and sensibilities
of an artist. Folktales like Hir Ranjha and Sauḥni Mahiwal or the village girls gathered to
fetch water on and around a well shows endless ways of his color observation. The
costumes painted by him tell the story of cultural diversity of that era. Just because of
color palette he defines the style of the entire body work. Masterpiece of his life Talism-
i-Hoshruba.

5. • His landscape painting "the storm" Chat tato harvest" shows that Allah Bakhsh is
concerned about the horizon line of his landscape. These are implied lines, those that are
not actually drawn but are instead implied by the brushstrokes around it.
• In painting "moonlight meeting" he trains himself to observe the shapes in
everything. By breaking down the basic shapes of a subject, he creates an
accurate representation of the use of space in painting. The moon behind the
figures represents the understating of shapes its look like 3D and it's the great
piece of composition having, Unity, balance, movement, rhythm, focus, contrast,
pattern, and proportion.

6. Achievements
He was awarded with countless prizes and achievements From a very young age Ustad Allaḥ Bakhsh
started exhibiting his works.
• He was awarded 1st prize in painting in a competition held in Bombay.
• He was also awarded Presidents medal for Pride of Performance.
• In 1979, through RCD's programmed, the government of Iran reproduced one of his paintings on a
postage stamp.
Thematically, Allaḥ Bakhsh was very much inspired by his own surroundings but in his style of
painting landscapes he was deeply influenced by the western classical paintings. His paintings are
preserved by collector's world over and are considered treasure.The National Art Gallery has a
representative collection of his paintings, which remains on display for public viewing. he same has
been converted into an academy "Allah Bakhsh Academy" which is a learning ground for those who
wants to excel in this great master's style.

7. • In his urge to learn the non-traditional modern style of painting, Ustad derivative many
works of the Western masters and tried out his own color palette and local restricted
themes. In his early executions of painting, seems a poor replica of the European
masterpieces. However, with the passage of time and maturity of skill, the artist evolved
his technique and perception of the subject up to a level that is today known as the Allaḥ
Bakhsh style.
• In the early period, one can feel the mishandling of disproportionate figures, and find
faults with the anatomy of the human body where the painter appears more obsessive
with the depiction of folktales like Hir Ranjha and Sohni Mahiwal or the village girls
gathered to fetch water on and around a well. The drawbacks diminished completely
when he painted the masterpiece of his life Talism-i-Hoshruba (mind- bending magic),
based on the well-known fables of the Persian epic literature.
Critical Application of Ustad Allaḥ Bakhsh Work

8. Good points
• He came out from his naturalistically multicolored landscapes of the
Punjab plain locality to the stony surface and up righted skyline of the
mountains his style that has remained almost incomparable. in this y
and age he is considered as the legendary pioneer painter regarding
modern landscape and figurative ainting in Pakistan.

9. A Typical Village Day Starter

10. Elements used in this painting:
• Line
• Shape
• Colors
• Form
• Texture
• Space
• Value

11. Principles In this Painting
• Pattern
• Contrast
• Balance
• Emphasis
• Unity
• Proportion
• Rhythm