Autumn III

Zahoor ul Akhlaq, one of Pakistan’s most significant artists of the last century, was a painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work bridged vernacular traditions with Western modernism. Born in Delhi and later migrating to Karachi, he studied at the National College of Arts in Lahore before furthering his education in London and at Yale University on a research fellowship. As a professor at NCA, he profoundly influenced future generations, including artists like Shazia Sikander, Imran Qureshi, and Rashid Rana. Akhlaq’s deep engagement with manuscript painting principles led to the development of the neo-miniaturist genre. Autumn III, part of a series created at Yale, reflects his interest in Mughal manuscript painting’s spatial structures while referencing artists like Josef Albers and Mark Rothko and drawing chromatic inspiration from New Haven’s autumnal hues. Through explorations of the structures of the grid and frame, Akhlaq forged a dialogue between Islamic artistic traditions and modernist abstraction, cementing his lasting impact on contemporary art.