Zubeida Agha (Pakistani, 1922-1997) Untitled (Cityscape)Zubeida Agha (Pakistani, 1922-1997)Untitled (Cityscape) signed 'Zubeida Agha 46' lower leftoil on canvas, framed32 x 55.1cm (12 5/8 x 21 11/16in).CELEBRATING ZUBEIDA AGHA'S BIRTH CENTENARYProvenanceThe Collection of Imran R. Sheikh; family of the artist.ExhibitedLondon, Bonhams, Zubeida Agha, 2022, No. 1 PublishedSalima Hashmi for Bonhams, Zubeida Agha: Celebrating an Extraordinary Career, 2022, p.1, No.1A very rare early work by Zubeida Agha, it establishes her ability to respect and enhance the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Part of the Agha family collection, it hints at the vision that will eventually define Zubeida Agha's body of work. In the late 1940s, during the tumult of Partition, many homes were looted in the riots and artworks destroyed. This work, possibly because of its location, survived unscathed. Informally titled Cityscape, the simplified architectural forms suggest the mohalla, a neighbourhood familiar to the artist. There is no attempt to imply deep space, the buildings are defined in flattened, spatial relationships, woven into a composite whole and unfolded across the canvas. The modulated tonal variations and colours suggest a continuity to the city, beyond the limits of the given space. As a young painter, Agha was carefully assembling the forms and assigning them roles as clusters in the city neighbourhood.Art historian Iftikhar Dadi viewed Zubeida Agha as "an independent painter who stubbornly charted her own trajectory without much influence from other artists or artistic trends." (Iftikhar Dadi, Modernism and the Art of Muslim South Asia, 2010, p.113) She must have been mindful of the audiences of her time and the preference for more recognisable 'pictures' and the picturesque. She chooses instead to design the image in terms of a flowing line which orchestrates a security of purpose, a mature work for a young painter.