Anwar Jalal Shemza

Acquired directly from the artist by Mr. Hamid Khawaja, England, circa early 1960s

Acquired from the above, 2025

Hamid Khawaja (1937 - 2009) was a Pakistani businessman and collector with a longstanding interest in art and literature. He developed relationships with several leading figures of the Pakistani art world, including Anwar Jalal Shemza, whom he first met in Lahore in the mid-1950s while the artist was associated with the influential Lahore Art Circle. During a business trip to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s, Khawaja began acquiring works directly from Shemza, who was then living in Stafford and working as an art educator. Khawaja also cultivated relationships with and collected works by other prominent Pakistani artists, including Sadequain, Shakir Ali, Sheikh Safdar Ali and Ali Imam.