Fatima Bhutto, granddaughter of writer, poet and founder of Pakistan People’s Party Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, got married at her residence 70 Clifton on Thursday.
We all saw pictures of various rituals on their Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Three things stood out in this wedding, everyone’s simple clothes, 70’s Clifton atmosphere and almost every picture has a painting or artwork on the walls!
A painting stopped the steps. A picture of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto painted in blue colors on the wall.
This picture was created by one of the great painters of Pakistan. His name was Gul Ji.
According to my information, this image was made by Gulji from lapis lazuli, meaning a blue stone!
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However, in the photo that Fatima Bhutto posted on Twitter, the image had a sheen like it was made of oil paint.
Contacted my kind Shahid Hussain, who is also a fine artist and lives in America.
I requested him for Amin Gulji’s number and thus I got in touch with Gulji’s son.
Amin Gulji confirmed to Kamal Shafqat at the same time that this picture was made by Gulji from lapis lazuli i.e. lapis lazuli.
He also said that ‘I remember the days when my father was making this picture, I myself like it very much and since my father (Gulji) knew Bhutto very closely, this picture has full depth in it. With (depth) you will see.’
Amin Gul Ji said that this picture was made in the Mughal tradition exactly as it was carved inside the Taj Mahal.
‘It is called ‘Petra Dora’. This method of making a mosaic is such that each piece of stone fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. This is the mosaic tradition of the Mughals exemplified by the Taj Mahal. My father wanted to carry on this tradition.’
Amin Gulji was a Pakistani painter who painted a portrait of Afghan King Zahir Shah, and presented it to him when he came to Pakistan.
Zahir Shah liked the portrait so much that on his invitation, Gulji again went to Afghanistan and made 151 portraits of the royal family.
Portraits of American presidents, sketches of Saudi leaders, portraits of Iranian queens, portraits of the Aga Khan and this portrait of Bhutto are among his prominent works.
Gul Ji’s name was ‘Abdul Hameed Ismaili’ and his first teacher was his grandfather Hakim Abu Ali Ismaili.
Born in 1926, Gulji learned painting from his grandfather and took up abstract painting when he went to America to study engineering.
In 1950, Gulji exhibited his pictures which proved to be a superhit.
Among the photos that Fatima Bhutto posted of her wedding on Instagram, paintings by Abdul Rahman Chaghatai are also prominent, reflecting the taste of the people living in 70 Clifton.
A painting by Gulji titled ‘Buz Kushi’ (Facebook Memorial Page, Gulji)
After Gilji’s death, one of his paintings was sold for over 9 million dollars in London in 2012.
The picture titled ‘Buzkshi’ was made in 1965.