Pakistan Mourns Acclaimed Artist Shahid Jalal
Acclaimed senior artist Shahid Jalal passed away at the age of 72 on Tuesday. His colleague and veteran artist, printmaker Nazish Ataullah shared the tragic news.
“He was simply passionate about painting; his mentor was our teacher Khalid Iqbal. Even though his profession was that of a chartered accountant, he thought it would be a good idea to spend a year here. But even after that, he went back to his profession. Still, he continued to paint avidly and was dedicated to it,” Nazish said of his former National College of Arts (NCA) fellow who joined the institute as a mature artist.
Not one to commercialize art, Jalal’s paintings often were given away, said Nazish.
“Once he painted the entire outside portion of an old house that belonged to Tahira Mazhar Ali, from every angle. He gave away the entire proceeds of that exhibition to the Citizen Foundation schools,” the artist said.
Belonging from an educational and learned family, Jalal’s sister is scholar Aisha Jalal. He then married Sadat Hassan Manto’s daughter, Nusrat.
