Born in Lahore in undivided India, Chughtai studied at Lahore's Mayo School of Art. He was a figurative painter greatly influenced by Mughal miniature painting, Europe's early 20th century Art Nouveau Movement and Japanese art. His style displays a strong sense of line, scale and form. Chughtai was a printmaker, having studied the art in London. He illustrated several books with water colours and drawings. After India's partition, he was Pakistan's foremost painter. He died in 1975.