>JJMC89 bot III at 07:21, 30 March 2021

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{{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}

{{Infobox artist
| name = Anwar Jalal Shemza
| image = Anwar Shemza.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| caption = Anwar Shemza in 1958
| birth_name = انور جلال شمزا
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|07|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Shimla]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1985|01|18|1928|07|14|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Stafford]], [[England]]
| education = [[University of the Punjab]]<br/>[[National College of Arts]]<br/>[[Slade School of Fine Art]]
| known_for = Painting, printmaking, novels, poetry, playwright
| notable_works = ''Meem'' series (1960s); ''Roots'' series (1970s); ''The Page'' (1984)
| movement = [[Lahore]] Art Circle ([[modernist art]])
| spouse = Mary Taylor (1958)
| awards =
| patrons =
| website = [https://www.anwarshemza.com/ www.anwarshemza.com]
}}

'''Anwar Jalal Shemza''' ([[Urdu]]: {{Nastaliq|انور جلال شمزا}}) (14 July 1928 – 18 January 1985) was an artist and writer active in [[Pakistan]] and later the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name="oxford">{{cite chapter| title=Anwar Shemza | work=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] }}</ref><ref name="bio">{{cite web| url=https://www.anwarshemza.com/biography.html | title=Anwar Jalal Shemza (1928–1985) | website=www.anwarshemza.com | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.halesgallery.com/usr/library/documents/main/artists/90/cv-anwar-jalal-shemza-june-2020.pdf | title=Anwar Jalal Shemza – CV | publisher=[[Hales Gallery]] | website=www.halesgallery.com | date=June 2020 | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref> Despite being better known as an artist, Shemza published several [[Urdu]] [[novel]]s and books of poetry in the 1950s and wrote plays performed on [[Radio Pakistan]].<ref name="oxford" /> Shemza was initially influenced by [[Modernism]] most notably [[Paul Klee]] although later works also showed a traditional [[Islam]]ic influence. He was also an accomplished printmaker, having his work exhibited at the International Print Biennial in [[Tokyo]].<ref name="grove">{{cite chapter| title=Anwar Jalal Shemza | work=[[Grove Art Online]] }}</ref>

==Early life and career==
Shemza was born Anwar Jalal [[Bhat clan|Butt]] into a [[Kashmiri people|Kashmiri]]<ref>{{cite book| first=Muhammad Yusuf | last=Abbasi | title=Pakistani Culture: A profile | publisher=National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research | location=Pakistan | date=1992 | page=310 }}</ref> family in [[Shimla]], [[India]], in 1928. His grandfather owned a carpet business in [[Lahore]] while his father Khaja Butt was a [[civil servant]]. He was educated in schools in Shimla, [[Ludhiana]] and Lahore. While he studied [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Arabic]] and [[philosophy]] at [[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]] in 1943, he switched to art in the following year, enrolling at the Mayo School of Art and obtaining a diploma in 1947.<ref name="oxford" />

==Pakistani artist and writer==
In 1947, Anwar Shemza opened the Shemza Commercial Art Studio in Lahore and adopted the name Anwar Jalal Shemza. He quickly became a leading figure in Pakistan's cultural life. Shemza was the editor of ''Ehsas'', a magazine on art and [[architecture]]. He published seven novels in Urdu most notably ''Sotey jagtey'' published in 1957 as well as poetry such as Kissa kahani (Folk tales and stories) from 1954. [[Radio Pakistan]] broadcast his plays.<ref name="oxford" />

Shemza was a leading member of a modernist group called the Lahore Art Circle. His early works showed a distinct geometric structure. He studied at the [[Slade School of Fine Art]]<ref name="grove" /> in [[London]] and gained a diploma of fine art from [[University College London|University College]]. In 1960, he obtained a scholarship from the [[British Council]] to study printmaking with [[Anthony Gross]] for another year. While in Britain, he married English artist Mary Katrina.<ref name="oxford" />

==British career==
Shemza and his wife returned to Pakistan at first but they moved to Mary Katrina's hometown of [[Stafford]], [[England]], in 1962. He worked as an arts teacher at [[Ounsdale High School]] between 1962 and 1979 and at [[Weston Road High School]] as head of art and design between 1979 and 1985.

It was while teaching at Ounsdale in 1966 that Shemza's daughter Tasveer, aged six, designed one of Britain's first series of Christmas stamps. Tazveer’s design, featuring one of the [[Biblical Magi|Magi]], was chosen by eight professional stamp designers from 5,000 entries in a ''[[Blue Peter]]'' competition.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://rmspecialstamps.com/collections/christmas-1966/ | title=Christmas 1966 − Stamp name: King of the Orient | website=rmspecialstamps.com | accessdate=20 October 2020 | publisher=[[Royal Mail]] | year=2016 }}</ref>

In England, Shemza started to incorporate [[Islam]]ic themes into his work. His ''Meem'' series of the 1960s was based on the first letter of the prophet [[Mohammed]]'s name. His ''Roots'' series started in the 1970s and showed imaginary plants and roots derived from [[Arabic]] script below, while his [[silkscreen]] ''The Page'' from 1984 showed Arabic [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]] in illegible patterns.<ref name="oxford" />

Exhibitions of Shemza's works were held in London, [[Durham, England|Durham]], [[Lahore]], [[Karachi]], and [[Oxford]]. The ''Roots'' exhibition toured Pakistan<ref name="grove" /> after his death from a [[heart attack]] in 1985. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

==Legacy==
Anwar Shemza's artworks are held in many public collections including the [[Ashmolean Museum]] (Oxford, UK), [[Guggenheim Abu Dhabi]] (UAE), [[Lahore Museum]] (Lahore, Pakistan), [[Pakistan National Council of the Arts]] (Islamabad, Pakistan), [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York, USA), [[Sharjah Art Foundation]] (UEA), [[Tate]] (London, UK),<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/anwar-jalal-shemza-14097 | title=Anwar Jalal Shemza | publisher=[[Tate]] | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.halesgallery.com/artists/90-estate-of-anwar-jalal-shemza/overview/ | title=Estate of Anwar Jalal Shemza | publisher=[[Hales Gallery]] | website=www.halesgallery.com | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref> His granddaughter, [[Aphra Shemza]],<ref>{{cite web| first=Aphra | last=Shemza | url=https://www.anwarshemza.com/ | title=AphraShemza | website=www.aphrashemza.com | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref> is a [[multimedia art]]ist.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-35-autumn-2015/my-grandfather-anwar-jalal-shemza | title=My grandfather, Anwar Jalal Shemza | work=Tate Etc | date=16 October 2015 | first=Aphra | last=Shemza | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref> In 2020, she launched an [[Arts Council England|Arts Council]]-funded project ''shemza.digital'',<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.shemza.digital/ | title=shemza.digital | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref> featuring her grandfather's 1962 painting ''One to Nine and One to Seven''.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.shemza.digital/ | title=More info – "One circle, one square, one problem, one life is not enough to solve it" Anwar Jalal Shemza, 1962 | website=shemza.digital | accessdate=20 October 2020 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.anwarshemza.com/ Anwar Shemza website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shemza, Anwar}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shimla]]
[[Category:20th-century Pakistani painters]]
[[Category:20th-century English painters]]
[[Category:20th-century English educators]]
[[Category:University of the Punjab alumni]]
[[Category:National College of Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art]]
[[Category:Urdu-language short story writers]]
[[Category:Pakistani dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent]]
[[Category:English people of Kashmiri descent]]
[[Category:English male painters]]
[[Category:English printmakers]]
[[Category:Urdu-language writers from Pakistan]]
[[Category:Urdu-language novelists]]
[[Category:Pakistani calligraphers]]
[[Category:Pakistani Muslims]]
[[Category:Kashmiri writers]]

Anwar Shemza - Revision history

>JJMC89 bot III at 07:21, 30 March 2021