How to Buy an Original Painting from Pakistan, Wherever You Live
Buying an original painting from another country can feel like a leap. You cannot stand in front of it, the studio is thousands of miles away, and questions about shipping and customs arrive before the joy does. Yet when you buy original art from Pakistan directly from the artist’s studio, the process is calmer and more personal than most people expect. It is less like checking out from a shop and more like a correspondence: a letter, a reply, a few photographs, and then a canvas making its way to your door.
This guide walks through that journey step by step, from the studio of the Pakistani landscape painter Abid Khan in Islamabad to a wall in New York, Toronto, London, Paris or Lahore.
Why buy directly from the artist’s studio
Speaking with the studio, not a reseller
When you write to the studio, your questions are answered by the people who know the painting best: how it was made, how its colours behave in daylight, and how it will sit in a room. Every enquiry receives a personal reply with the painting’s price, exact dimensions and condition, together with additional photographs, sent directly to your inbox. There is no obligation. It is simply an invitation to know the work more closely before you decide.
Buying directly also means the story of the painting travels with it. You know where it was painted, by whom, and why, and that is part of what you hang on your wall.
About Abid Khan
Abid Khan was born in Lahore in 1966 and lives and works in Islamabad. He paints in oil on canvas, using Sennelier paints, and returns season after season to the valleys, orchards, meadows and winter villages of northern Pakistan. Without the resources for a formal art education, he pursued painting independently while completing a Master’s degree in English Literature at Punjab University in 1993, and then turned to painting entirely.
Over more than two decades he has held ten solo exhibitions and taken part in eleven group shows, in Pakistan and abroad. In 2013 one of his paintings was auctioned at Christie’s in London. His work is held in private and permanent collections around the world. You can read more on the About the artist page.
What makes a painting “original”
Oil on canvas, built up by hand
An original painting is a single object, made once, by hand. There is no edition and no reproduction behind it. Abid Khan builds each landscape in layers of small strokes until the atmosphere of a particular hour settles on the surface. Up close you can see the strokes overlap and blend; from across a room they become light, mist and colour.
“To me, art is a universal visual language. I am not looking for artificial glamour, but for originality and the natural manifestation of the environment.”
Abid Khan, artist statement
The signed Certificate of Authenticity
Every painting from the studio is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Abid Khan, confirming that the work is an original. Keep it with the painting: it is the work’s record of origin, useful for insurance, for your own records, and for the generations who may one day inherit it.
Four steps from enquiry to your wall
Acquiring a painting is a personal, unhurried process. The same four steps apply wherever you live, and they are set out in full on the How to Acquire page.
1. Enquire about a painting
Write to queries@abidkhanart.com, or send a message on WhatsApp at +92 305 4499886, naming the painting you are drawn to. Every painting page also has an “Email the Studio” button that opens a message with the title already filled in. You will receive the price, dimensions, condition and additional photographs.
2. Reserve it in your name
If the painting resonates with you, confirm your interest and it will be reserved exclusively in your name. While it is reserved, the work is withdrawn from further offers and held for you alone as the acquisition is completed.
3. Shipping and authenticity
Your painting is carefully rolled and packed in a protective PVC tube, so the canvas can travel safely to its new home anywhere in the world. The signed Certificate of Authenticity travels with it.
4. Secure payment
Payment is made by international bank transfer directly to the artist’s account. For your security, bank details are never published online; they are shared with you privately once your reservation has been confirmed.
How the canvas travels to you
Rolled in a protective tube
Paintings from the studio travel rolled rather than stretched on their wooden bars. A rolled canvas in a sturdy tube is lighter and more compact than a framed work, which makes international shipping simpler and protects the painted surface from the knocks that corners and frames attract in transit. If you have questions about delivery to your country, simply ask when you enquire, and the studio will talk you through it before anything is sent.
Stretching and framing when it arrives
When the tube arrives, open it gently and unroll the canvas on a clean, flat surface, paint side up. A local framer can then stretch it onto bars and frame it to suit your room. Many collectors enjoy this part: choosing a frame is a chance to make the painting entirely at home in its new setting. Ask the studio for the exact dimensions before you visit your framer, so they can prepare.
Customs and import taxes: a general guide
Original paintings are treated more gently at the border than most goods. The summaries below come from official sources, current at the time of writing. They are general information, not tax advice; rules change, so please check with your carrier or customs office before the painting ships.
United States
Paintings executed entirely by hand are classified under heading 9701 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and the general rate of duty for subheading 9701.91.00 is free (USITC, Harmonized Tariff Schedule). A 2026 U.S. Customs ruling on an imported oil painting confirms the free general rate, while noting that additional duties, taxes or fees can apply depending on the circumstances of the import (CBP ruling NY N357756). Confirm with your carrier at the time of shipping.
Canada
Original paintings executed entirely by hand enter Canada duty-free under tariff item 9701.91.10 (Canada Border Services Agency, Customs Tariff). The GST, and the provincial HST or PST where it applies, is still payable on import (Canada Revenue Agency).
United Kingdom
In the UK, paintings executed by hand are among the works of art that receive a reduced valuation for import VAT: the value is taken at 25%, and the standard 20% rate is applied to that, giving an effective import VAT rate of 5% (GOV.UK, How to value goods for import VAT).
European Union
EU law allows each member state to apply a reduced VAT rate to the importation of works of art (Article 103 of the VAT Directive, 2006/112/EC). The rate is set by each country: France, for example, applies 5.5% to imports of works of art (French tax administration, BOFiP), while Finland applies 13.5% (Finnish Customs). Check the rate for your own country before the painting ships.
In Pakistan
If you live in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi or anywhere else in Pakistan, no import is involved at all. Simply send a message on WhatsApp at +92 305 4499886 and the studio will guide you from there.
A painting available now: Petals Of Peace
Most of the paintings shown on this website have already found their homes and are marked as sold. Petals Of Peace is available now. Painted in 2026 in oil on canvas, it measures 30 × 36 inches and is signed by the artist on the front. A meadow of blue, white and yellow flowers opens beneath slender trees in soft, high light: a quiet spring moment, painted in the layered strokes described above.
On the painting’s page you can move across the image to look closer at the brushwork, and the Acquire section there takes you straight to the first step. Acquire Petals Of Peace →
Commissioning a painting for your space
If you have a particular room, wall or memory in mind, a commission may be the better path. Each commission is an original painting in oil on canvas, developed with attention to mood, atmosphere and balance. Dimensions, themes and colour tones are discussed beforehand, so the finished work suits the room it is made for. Whether you are a private collector, an interior designer, a gallery or a corporate buyer, write to the studio through the Contact page or by email, and describe the space you are imagining. You can also browse all the works for a sense of the palette and the places he paints.
Are the paintings originals or prints?
Every painting is an original in oil on canvas, made by hand by Abid Khan. Each one is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by the artist.
Do you ship paintings outside Pakistan?
Yes. Paintings are rolled and packed in a protective PVC tube so the canvas can travel safely anywhere in the world.
Will I pay customs duty or import tax?
Original hand-made paintings are duty-free in the United States (general rate) and Canada, though Canadian GST and provincial tax apply. The UK charges an effective 5% import VAT on works of art, and EU countries set their own reduced rates, such as 5.5% in France. Please confirm with your carrier or customs office before shipping.
How do I pay for a painting?
By international bank transfer directly to the artist’s account. Bank details are never published online; they are shared privately once your reservation is confirmed.
Can I see more photographs before I decide?
Yes. When you enquire, the studio replies personally with the price, exact dimensions, condition and additional photographs of the painting.
Can I commission a painting?
Yes. Each commission is an original oil on canvas. Dimensions, themes and colour tones are discussed beforehand so the finished painting suits its room.
Begin with a letter
However far away you are, buying an original painting from Pakistan begins the same way: with a few words to the studio. Tell us which painting caught your eye, or describe the room you are dreaming of, and we will reply personally.
Email: queries@abidkhanart.com
Phone / WhatsApp: +92 305 4499886
With love, peace and harmony. Abid Khan Studio, Islamabad
