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  • Composition in Red and Green, Squares and Circles

Anwar Jalal Shemza

Composition in Red and Green, Squares and Circles

1963

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In Tate Britain

Modern and Contemporary British Art: In Full Colour: 1960–1970

Artist
Anwar Jalal Shemza 1928–1985
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Support: 911 × 720 × 18 mm
frame: 925 × 734 × 21 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Purchased with assistance from Tate Patrons 2017
Reference
T14768

Display caption

Anwar Jalal Shemza began his artistic career in Pakistan and moved to the UK to study. Feeling displaced, he stopped making figurative paintings. Instead, he began studying Islamic art from different periods, in search of what he called his ‘own identity’. His new compositions fused calligraphy and aspects of Mughal architecture with European abstract art. He commented: ‘I am much more aware of my own art heritage now than I ever was in Pakistan. You only become aware of the things you lose.’

Gallery label, September 2023

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  • abstraction(8,615)
    • non-representational(6,161)
      • colour(2,481)
      • geometric(3,072)
  • architecture(30,960)
    • periods and styles(5,198)
      • Islamic(31)

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