Sadequain (1930-1987)

Sadequain (1930-1987)Sadequain was born in Amroha (undivided India) in 1930 and graduated from the Agra University. Sadequain is considered to be one of the most prolific artists of Pakistan. He was wholly self-taught and after some efforts, crystallized his art into a very distinct and personal idiom. Sadequain made his name as a painter of large murals in public buildings, the first of which was in Jinnah Hospital and the second at Karachi Airport in 1957 where he painted Sindhi and Balochi women with their long embroidered gowns, carrying water pitchers. In 1960 he was awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the government and the President's Pride of Performance in 1962, and won top honours in a national Art Exhibition and was invited to Paris by the French Committee of the International Association of Plastic Arts. There, he was awarded at the Paris Biennale.From 1969 to 1985, he devoted himself to calligraphy, of which he developed an entirely new style. His calligraphic style is an icon of standard and widely followed. He painted the different verses of the Sura Rahman from the Quran and made each verse into a painting. Painterly calligraphy became popular with all artists and the public in Pakistan after Sadequain. Sadequain traveled intensively, showing his work in London, New York, Australia, Romania and Russia. He journeyed through India for two years, showing his work in major cities, painting and sketching ceaselessly. In 1972, he was engaged in painting the ceiling of the Lahore Museum with the epic mural, "The Evolution of Mankind."Shortly before his death, he again came back to painting and was working on the most prodigious painting project of his life on the theme "Man and his Universe" when he died, leaving it only three-fourth complete. It has been installed on the ceiling of Liaquat Hall (former Frere Hall) in Karachi.