Within the storied halls of Pakistan’s military history, the tradition of portraiture stands tall, thanks in large part to the artistry of Hal Bevan Petman.
Portraiture is rare in Pakistan. With the exception of military portraits, we rarely see civilian personalities painted. The photograph has replaced the paintbrush. However, we continue to see a tradition of portraiture in the Pakistan Armed Forces, and a visit to most officers’ messes displays well-executed portraits of generals, brigadiers, and commanding officers. Let us look back in time to see where this all began.
Portraiture in the Indian Subcontinent dates back to the earliest recorded dynasties and kingdoms. Prominent personalities had themselves painted or sculpted, and these artworks now grace many private collections, museums, and numerous archaeological sites of this part of Asia. The Subcontinent has always been a land of promise, frequented by numerous traders and invaders, writers, artists, travelers, and men of fortune—all drawn here by stories of its fabled wealth and cultures.
Portuguese traders first landed here in the late 15th century, rapidly followed by the Dutch, English, and French. All rapidly established registered trading companies and, later, as we all know, commenced acquisition of lands and political power. However, in the end, it was the British who truly and effectively colonized India, initially under the British East India Company—Company Bahadur—and later, directly under the Crown.
This preamble is given to set the backdrop for the influence of European art in the Subcontinent. Tilly Kettle (1735-1786) was the first prominent British artist to visit and paint in India. He was soon followed by many others seeking fame and fortune, painting the nawabs and maharajas of the land.
Fast forward to the early 20th century, Henry Charles ‘Hal’ Bevan Petman (1894-1980) may be classified as the last of the Raj painters. Born to a family of lawyers, Hal and his younger brother were born in Bristol, where his father, Bertrand Amor Bevan Petman, was a school teacher. Bertrand himself was born in India, where his father had arrived in the 1860s.
In the words of Hal’s granddaughter Susan, from her blog, The Chelsea Chameleons: ‘Moving on with Hal’, he attended Clifton College, Bristol, in 1908. He was in North Town (one of the boys’ Houses). He left Clifton in 1910 and travelled to India to join his parents, who had left England to live there. This marked the beginning of a life full of adventure, intrigue, and scandal, with consequences for generations to come.
Hal was now ‘home’ and was to settle into a life of comfort and privilege, but tragedy struck soon after when he contracted polio. Suddenly, his career options appeared rather limited. Although we don’t know who first suggested a career in art, 1915 saw Hal and his father set sail back to the UK, where Hal was enrolled in the Slade School of Art in Central London at just 19 years old. He must have had a flair for drawing, as he rapidly excelled at the school and graduated with a ‘first’ in figure drawing. Evidence suggests that he was subsequently retained as a teaching assistant.
Portraiture in the Indian Subcontinent dates back to the earliest recorded dynasties and kingdoms.
While at the Slade, he met and soon after married a model employed there. The marriage fell apart after three short years when his wife left, taking their one-year-old daughter with her. Hal returned alone to India in 1921, where he rapidly made a name for himself as a portrait artist and art teacher, coaching both adults and children. He briefly taught a 9-year-old, Amrita Sher-Gil, in Shimla, who would later become a famous painter herself.
The decade of the 1920s passed with Hal returning to London, where he worked as an illustrator for The Spectator and the Illustrated London News publications. He continued with Portraiture and made a second matrimonial foray, which also didn’t last long. Hal returned to Lahore in the 1930s, and this time, though he did not know it himself, it was for keeps.
He again threw himself into his work, and life followed a familiar pattern: summers in Simla and winters in Lahore. The rich and famous took pride in having themselves painted in his signature style. Recognizing human vanity early on, Hal painted his female subjects in a way that flattered the sitter, doubtless gaining him more clients but later also some critical flak for making them more beautiful than they were.
None of this was evident in his military portraits; the officers and jawans gaze down at you, confident and imperious. His portrait of Subedar Khudadad Khan, the first Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, now hanging in the British National Army Museum in London, is a classic study of martial spirit, with the subject in full uniform, turban, Sam Browne belt, and medals. Hal painted this one in 1935. Many more followed, including dozens of portraits, landscapes, and battle scenes for Nawab General Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi V, the last Nawab of Bahawalpur.
The British Indian Army continued to commission Hal right up to Partition, and this ‘tradition’ carried on as he and his brother opted for Pakistan. Hal initially moved to Quetta and later settled in Rawalpindi, where he took up permanent residence in bungalow number 8 at the Rawalpindi Club.
Rawalpindi may have been a cultural backwater in the early years, but Hal continued to receive a steady stream of commissions. Army portraits and battle scenes were painted in Rawalpindi and Abbottabad, including portraits of General Ayub Khan, Iftikhar, Akbar, and Musa, as well as his civilian or ‘society’ portraits, all done in his converted garage studio behind his residence. During summers, he worked at the Lockwood Hotel in Murree and later at the Gold Hotel in Bhurban, where he was a regular. Families from all over Pakistan flocked to the cool of the hill stations, and Hal was ever willing to oblige. The numerous artworks still extant in private homes across the country give us a comprehensive sense of just how talented he was!
No article on Hal Bevan Petman would be complete without mentioning his invaluable contribution to honoring the gallant soldiers and officers who laid down their lives for Pakistan. Hal’s evocative and lifelike portraits of Major Aziz Bhatti, Major Tufail, and others keep their visual memory alive for all in perpetuity. These portraits have been (inexpertly) copied numerous times, both for wall displays and on the backs of trucks. In fact, the tradition of incorporating portraits into truck art is significant, but that would be the subject of another article!
Next time you see an expertly rendered portrait, landscape, still life, or battle scene, check the name painted in the lower right-hand corner. It’s probably Hal’s!
Hal Bevan Petman passed away at the Rawalpindi Club in May 1980. He is buried in the Rawalpindi Christian Cemetery.
The author is an active social person, with varied interests. He contributes articles to national dailies. He has also been associated with various international media organizations. Based in Islamabad, he is a long-term researcher of Hal Bevan Petman and is always looking for overlooked cultural projects that warrant his attention.
Note: The article originally appeared in the magazine of the Army Institute of Military History Pakistan, Bugle and Trumpet.
Editor’s Notes
▪ Erstwhile Rawalpindi Club/ Artillery Mess, which now is Garrison Officers’ Mess, has a room named after ‘Hal’ as ‘Petman Cafe’.
▪ Queen Elizabeth II was presented four paintings made by Hal in 1961 during her official visit to Pakistan. These paintings are on display at Sandringham House and are part of the Royal Collection.
▪ A privately funded documentary project was incepted to produce a snapshot of the Hal Bevan Petman, his work, and features some of his models giving their views on the experience they had with him whilst being painted. A preview of the production, called ‘Discovering Petman’, can be viewed on Vimeo, the documentary is directed by Taqi Shaheen, with research by Romano Karim Yusuf. The documentary in rough cut was premiered at Kuch Khaas as “Hal Bevan Petman—The Forgotten Society Painter” on September 4, 2012, receiving positive reviews. Kuch Khaas is a non-profit organization promoting local art, artists and literary events in Islamabad, this rough cut also featured in “Migration Stories”, a British Council Pakistan roadshow in 2013, as they also funded about 10 percent of the project.
▪ I have been researching the man since 1989, and you can read up more on him and his work at my following pages:
▪ www.halbevanpetman.com
▪ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Bevan-Petman
▪ https://www.facebook.com/HalBevanPetman/
Comments