'Jalaluddin Ahmed was an institution of art'.

LAHORE -- A prominent patron of the arts for decades passed away a few days ago in Lahore, leaving behind a vacuum in the art world in Pakistan.

Mr Jalaluddin Ahmed was a civil servant by profession and served in the information ministry, but he was better known as a great lover of the arts, devoting his entire life to promoting and working for them.

Mr Ahmed was born in Lucknow in 1925. He graduated with a Masters in English Literature and started teaching at the Aligarh Muslim University. It was then that he began to research on the contemporary art movement, with help from a connoisseur of arts, Prof Shahid Suhrawardy.

In 1954, he published his first book,Art in Pakistan, which gained him eminence. Painter Wahab Jaffar describes the book as an important record for the art movement of that era.

'It describes the work of not just the West, but also East Pakistani artists, including Zainul Abideen and Kibriya; women artists such as Zubaida Agha and Laila Shahzada and others, including Ali Imam, Shakir Ali, A.R. Chughtai. In fact, he was friends too with many of these artists,' said Mr Jaffar. 'Another book he wrote wasContemporary Painters of Pakistanpublished in 1958.'

He was made the assistant director in the Department of Films and Publications and later appointed its director general. In 1972, he took a six-month leave to research at the British Museum on contemporary arts in the Islamic world, at the end of which he was transferred to Cairo as the press attache in the Pakistan embassy.

In London, he and his wife came up with the idea of an English art magazine, which came to life with the help of Moazzam Ali, then deputy secretary general of the British Council.Arts in the Islamic Worldreceived tremendous response; it was published for 18 years until the sponsors withdrew.

Former information minister Javed Jabbar remembers Mr Ahmed as a 'slight and diminutive' man from his outward appearance, but his personality being the complete opposite. 'As a person, he stood 10 feet tall, especially in terms of arts and culture,' he added.

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