From London to Punjab

Before Molka moved to Punjab with her husband and fellow artist Sheikh Ahmed, she grew up in London and gained a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art.

The university

This oil painting depicts the Department of Fine Arts at the university in Lahore, Pakistan, which Molka established in 1940.

Painting outside

Molka was one of the first art teachers in Pakistan to take her students outside to paint. This work shows her interest in creating work in direct response to the surroundings.

Straight onto the canvas

Molka worked with a collection of palette knives and her hands, and would squeeze paint straight from the tube and mix it on the canvas.

Abstract shapes

In contrast to the soft, biomorphic shapes in many of Krasner's earlier paintings, a number of hard-edged abstract forms can be found in this later work.

Brimming with color

The work is filled with three main colors – kelly green, carmine red, and a fuchsia pink.

Geometric forms

The geometric forms used in Krasner's ‘Primary Series’ can be seen in this work, described by the art historian Cindy Nemser as ‘expansive yet contained … stately [and] slow-moving’.

Cracks and scratches

If you get right up close to 'Palingenesis', you can start to see the cracks and scratches in the paint.