Book on the art of Esther Rahim launched

The German Embassy hosted a book launching ceremony of the "Travels Mundane and Surreal: the Art of Esther Rahim" here on Wednesday evening. Never much lionised in the annals of mainstream Pakistani art, the Germany born Esther Rahim was nevertheless a painter of no small significance.
Also known as Esmet, she was the wife of J A Rahim, the well-known civil servant, diplomat, politician and founding member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Two of the three authors Salima Hashmi and Naazish Ataullah introduced the book to the art lovers and said Esther's art tells the tales of her stays, associations and experiences in Europe, Africa and Subcontinent.
Esther came to the Subcontinent in 1929, at the age of 25 from Germany when she married young ICS officer J A Rahim who himself came from a highly intellectual family of India. She died in Karachi in 1963.
Esther's art consists of painting, sculpture, drawing, prints and graphic design and can be divided into three phases. The book is a compilation of the images of an artistic works and their critical appreciation by renowned artists Salima Hashmi and Naazish Ataullah.
The background of these works is reflected in the writings about her life by her son Sikandar Rahim.
In this joint endeavour the authors revive the spirit of Esther's art which appears both historical and contemporary beyond the borders of time. The dominant themes are the quest for self-assurance and the blend of the ethereal and the temporal worlds. The art is not stagnantly still it is real, reciprocal and moves with a rich pace taking the beholder along.
Later talking to Business Recorder, Salima Hashmi said that she started work on this project in 1989, and the German government has greatly helped her in providing material for this book. She said that she came to know of this great women artist of Pakistan when she was working on her book "Women Artist of Pakistan".
She said that Esther's creative work is in two phases, the first phase is "Stylised" and the other is "symbolic" in which "women" is the subject of her art and focus.
Esther spent almost 18 years of her life from 1929 to 1947 in big cities of southern and northern India and was fully conversant with the cultural diversity of the Subcontinent.
After independence, she came to Pakistan with her husband J A Rahim and pioneered Karachi Arts Council along with Zubaida Aga. She was also an enthusiastic patron of block printed textiles and her patronage contributed to their revival and survival in Karachi during the 1950's. A friend of both Amrita Sher-Gil and Jamini Roy, Esther found her own voice and vision only towards the end of her artistic life.
The book has been published by the Sang-e-Meel Publications. At the Germany Embassy launch ceremony it was sold at Rs 1200 per copy.