The Private Collection of US Ambassador
Benjamin H. Oehlert Jr.
The Private Collection of US Ambassador
Benjamin H. Oehlert Jr.
Cover Mughal Princesses (detail) Opposite The cover of Art in the Embassy, Islamabad, 1967 Back cover Portrait of Benjamin Oehlert Jr.
Portrait of Ambassador Oehlert by Ismail Gulgee
Benjamin Hilborne Oehlert Jr. (19091985) was born in Philadelphia in 1906. He was locally educated before attending the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with a degree in Law. He entered private practice and later the Department of State, before joining the Coca-Cola Company in 1938. During his time there Oehlert was partly responsible for the association of CocaCola with the US military. Towards the end of the First World War Coca-Cola was nearly devastated by sugar rationing in the USA, and by 1919 were the nation’s largest consumers of raw cane sugar. In the early 1940s Oelhert saw that the USA’s involvement in World War Two was inevitable, and sought to avoid a similar near-disaster situation for the company as
rationing was ramped up in the early years of the war. As Coke’s Washington lobbyist his argument was that factory workers and military men performed better, and were more alert if they were granted regular breaks during the working day. His 1942 document ‘The Importance of the RestPause in Maximum War Effort’ was strongly associated with Coca-Cola, resulting ultimately with the companies’ exemption from sugar rationing, allowing them to sell their ‘restorative’ soft-drink to the military, which ensured the spread of the drink around the world in the back-packs of the GI’s. He left Coca-Cola in 1948 and was named vice president of Grace and Company, and a director of Grace National Bank.
In 1961 he was promoted to President of the Coca-Cola subsidiary Minute Maid. In this role he effectively brought Coke’s advertising nous to the orange juice market, turning what was once marketed as a medicinal product, to one for everyone and anyone at any time of the day. Following his successful stint at Minute Maid, he was appointed US Ambassador to Pakistan by Lyndon Baines Johnson in July 1967 (see appendix for a transcript of a conversation between LBJ and Dwight Eisenhower regarding his appointment). Whilst there he established the programme ‘Art in the Embassy’, with the intention of displaying works of art by local and American artists in diplomatic buildings around the world.
Whilst Ambassador, Oehlert purchased works by a number of artists, including Chughtai, Ismail Gulgee and the classical miniaturist Haji Sharif, all which were exhibited at the US Embassy in Islamabad during his tenure as Ambassador. The works by Chughtai were purchased directly from the artist and his family around 1967. During Oehlert’s time in Pakistan Chughtai published his magnum opus, the Amal Chughtai, in 1968. This publication displayed Chughtai’s work alongside the poetry of Iqbal and had taken 15 years and was produced at immense cost. Ambassador Oehlert was present at the inauguration of the volume, and is quoted in the promotional leaflet that accompanied the book.
“Chughtai is not only a great artist of Pakistan but also a great artist of the world. He has an understanding and ability of using all colours and complex parallels. I think his works are unique to what I have seen in the world.”
Oehlert held this position until June 1969, when he was replaced by Joseph S. Farland. When Oehlert left Pakistan he brought his paintings with him, and they remained in the family collection in Georgia for nearly 50 years.
He remained in contact with Chughtai and his family, and regularly exchanged letters with them. Upon his return to the US he became Vice President of the Coca-Cola Company, retiring two years later. Grosvenor Gallery is delighted to show the Oehlert collection of Chughtai’s work, a cultural time-capsule from a formative period in Pakistan’s history. Such collections are extremely rare, and it has been a pleasure to research the diplomatic ties between the former US Ambassador and Pakistan, and the life of an important and interesting figure of mid-20th century American industry.
Ambassador Oehlert receiving a copy of Amal Chughtai from Arif Rahman Chughtai, Lahore, 1968 This photograph appeared in The Department of State Newsletter, February 1969
PLATES
[1] Maiden with an Oil Lamp, c.1967 Watercolour and ink on paper Signed lower left 55.2 x 67.4 cm. (21 ¾ x 26 ½ in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 “A lover’s heart is a lamp which from the cheek of his sweetheart gets its light. And if it’s extinguished from the grief of his disunion it lives again, alright. Yes the qualities of a candle can be mentioned only before a moth, for this meaning can be understood only by those, whose heart has been burnt with love and who have a keen insight.” Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Translated by A.R. Tariq, Lahore, 1975 The motif of a maiden contemplating a burning lamp is a universal symbol in Persian and Uru poetry. For Iqbal, Ghalib, Omar Khayyam and a great many other ghazals the flame is an often used metaphor for the beloved, and the moths for the lover, hopelessly drawn towards the object of his desire. Chughtai describes how his first painting interpreting the poetry of Iqbal depicted a woman visiting a shrine with an earthen lamp in her hand, shielding the flame, with moths dashing into the flame like ‘things possessed’. This work, from Chughtai’s Islamic themed series of paintings is executed in warm orange hues, which combined with the composition and visual metaphors lend the work a strong sense of pathos.
[2] Usha (First Rays of the Morning Sun), c.1967 Titled Woman in Yellow by the Oehlert family Watercolour and ink on paper Signed lower left 67.4 x 55.2 cm. (26 ½ x 21 ¾ in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 Published: Art in the Embassy, United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967 Sirhandi, Marcella, Abdur Rahman Chughtai: A Modern South Asian Artist, PhD thesis, Ohio State University, 1984, p.436, fig. 159
and slightly shifted his figure from the threequarter view of the drawing to a full profile, but the pose is essentially the same.” Nessom does however comment that regardless of the degree to which his works corresponded with previous models, his compositions always offered a surprise or significant difference. She also goes on to summise that Usha/ Woman in Yellow could be analogous to Boticelli’s Birth of Venus. As Venus was surrounded bt the elements of nature, nature gives birth to Usha “Working from her pleasant dreams, Nature gives birth to Usha, who rises like a new Radha, exacting homage and worship” (Taken from the description in Chughtai’s Indian Paintings, New Delhi, 1951).
Chughtai executed a number of works on this subject, which come from his Indian paintings series. Works such as Usha/ Woman in Yellow are partly inspired by Indian miniature painting, often closely following compositions, colours, postures and drapery seen in Pahari or Rajasthani miniatures. Paintings from the Punjabi Hills often depict lone females standing on a terrace contemplating romance, or waiting for the return of an absent lover. In her 1984 dissertation, Marcella Sirhandi discusses this particular work, and comments that it displays a striking resemblance to a Kangra line drawing dating to the early 19th century in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, in terms of theme and composition (pictured right). “Both figures nearly fill the pictorial space (somewhat unusual in miniature painting), and each stands on a terrace overlooking a river broken by small islets. Chughtai added a flowering tree and the ubiquitous cranes that occur so frequently in other Pahari miniature paintings,
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© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
[3] Maiden with a Parakeet, c.1967 Watercolour and ink on paper Signed lower left 58.4 x 45.7 cm. (23 x 18 in.)  Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 The composition of this work is such that the viewer’s initial focus in on the hands and head of the figure holding the parakeet. She stands on a platform with elaborate finials, enrobed in flowing drapery and wearing jewellery around her neck and in her hair, which trails down her body leading the eye to two red tassels in the lower portion of the scene. In addition to the main subject a woman is seen in the lower left corner, her heavy lidded gaze cast downwards, executed solely in a monochrome line. To the right of the scene is the empty birdcage, from where the turquoise bird has been plucked. It is also worth noting the interesting use of perspective in this work. The stage tapers into the background however the supporting bar runs straight across the scene. All these are visual tools which add balance and order to the composition, borrowed from Indian and Persian miniature painting.
[4] Mughal Princesses, c.1967 Watercolour and ink on paper Signed lower left 58.4 x 45.7 cm. (23 x 18 in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 The figures in the work are positioned to create an X shaped composition which fills the field. The viewer’s eye is drawn in to the centre of the piece, where two Mughal women are inspecting a box and its contents, perhaps a pearl. The composition consists of a number of layers; the window in the background, the hands and faces of the women, the folds of their elaborate drapery and finally the empty vessel in the lower left corner. It is remarkable that the artist has achieved such a sense of depth with the medium. The detailing of the women’s clothing is also highly impressive, with scrolling and foliate patterns mirroring the designs of their jewellery. Inspired by Persian miniatures, this work borrows aesthetic features such as the women’s angled heads, curved features and flowing drapery. See comparison (right) with a 16th century painting of a woman applying henna in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
[5] Standing Maiden, c.1967 Graphite on paper Signed lower right 50.2 x 36 cm. (19 ¾ x 14 1/8 in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 Here Chughtai depicts a maiden standing face on, directly engaging the viewer with her heavy-lidded gaze. In her hands she holds a tasselled rope, on which hang two discs. One the windowsill in the background sits a twisted wine jug and cup, raising the possibility that the figure depicted is a Saqi or wine-server. In Persian and Urdu poetry the image of a Saqi is a frequently used literary device for the presence of earthly or divine love. The figure’s outstretched arm acts as a division of the composition, the form of the window mirroring that of the maiden’s head, and the curve of the rope following the hem of her dress, creating a balanced and harmonious composition.
[6] A Kashmiri Woodcutter Etching on paper Signed lower left, titled lower right 45.7 x 29.9 cm. (18 ½ x 11 ¾ in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 In one of the artist’s most iconic etchings he elegantly depicts a common sight in Kashmir, a woodcutter shown in his traditional robe, sack and axe, his back curving under the weight of his task. Chughtai had great empathy for the peasants of Kashmir, and the delicacy with which he has portrayed this unenviable task is remarkable. A social commentary on the plight of the poorest is made by Chughtai in this work, which shows the unforgiving living conditions experienced by the masses. Here the main figure fills the composition, with the graceful curve of the sticks leading the eye into the scene, where one can see his colleagues toiling similarly.
[7] Village Maiden Etching and aquatint on paper Signed lower left, titled lower right 37 x 26 cm. (14 ½ x 10 ¼ in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 Published (another example): Sirhandi, Marcella, Abdur Rahman Chughtai: A Modern South Asian Artist, PhD thesis, Ohio State University, 1984, p.483, fig. 262 “His lineal genius and skill finds remarkable expression in his etchings. Etching is a purely graphic art to be executed through line alone. And Chughtai commands a mastery of line. Here is an inseparable alliance between the master and the medium. “No one can, perhaps exploit more fully the potentialities of the medium of etching than the mind and hand of Chughtai. To the Westerners, whose technique he has borrowed, but made quite his own, he would seem to be a born etcher.” Malik Shams, 1959
[8] Evensong Etching and aquatint on paper Signed lower left, titled lower right 37 x 18.5 cm. (14 ½ x 7 ¼ in.) Exhibited: United States Embassy, Islamabad, 1967-1970 Another example of this work is held in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. In Evensong, Chughtai presents an easy to interpret scene of two deer in a forest, surrounded by blooming flowers, representative of family union and enduring love. Depictions of animals were common in the artist’s oeuvre, and subjects such as camels, deer, doves, pigeons and nightingales take on a variety of visual meanings, dependent on their context.
APPENDIX
Quote by Benjamin Oehlert, reproduced in the promotional leaflet for Amal Chughtai, Islamabad, 1968
Cover of the Pennsylvania Law Alumni Journal, Spring 1967
Announcement of Benjamin Oehlert’s appointment as Pakistani Ambassador in the Pennsylvania Law Alumni Journal, Spring 1967
Recording of Telephone Conversation between Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) and Dwight Eisenhower (DE), November 4, 1967, 10.05am, Citation #12402, Recordings of Telephone Conversations, White House Series, Recordings and Transcripts of Conversations and Meetings, LBJ Library. LBJ - “I’ve picked, I’ve got Bob Woodruff’s,
[Robert Winship Woodruff 1889 – 1985, President of Coca-Cola and philanthropist] one of Bob Woodruff’s better men, a fella named Oehlert, and I’m going to ask him to retire from Coca-Cola, or get a leave of absence to go out there. I got a letter from him yesterday. Out of about one-hundred Ambassadors he’s one of my top five in my judgement. Although he’s a private individual, he’s worked for Bob
Woodruff for forty years with Coca-Cola, and I’m going to try and get him to improve things with Pakistan… ...But Oehlert, Benjamin Oehlert, O-E-H-LE-R-T, is our Ambassador and he was with Bob Woodruff of Coca-Cola forty years, and I think that he is a conservative, prudent, able fella, and he has my complete confidence, and I think he’ll appeal to Ayub [Khan, President of Pakistan] if we have a chance to let him work his way in.” DE – “Well that’s very good.”
A letter from Benjamin Oehlert to Arif Rahman Chughtai, 1975 Courtesy Chughtai Museum Trust
Text and research Charles Moore Some of the information and images in this catalogue have been reproduced courtesy of the Chughtai Museum Trust. Grosvenor Gallery are grateful to Arif Rahman Chughtai for his assistance in compiling this information Opposite Introduction page of ‘Art in the Embassy’
Grosvenor Gallery 32 St James’s Street London SW1A 1HD T +44(0)20 7484 7979 F +44(0)20 7484 7980 E art@grosvenorgallery.com grosvenorgallery.com