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Sadequain was born in 1930, descending from a family of calligraphers. He was responsible for the renaissance of Islamic Calligraphy in Pakistan. He was one of the greatest calligraphers of his time who transformed the art of calligraphy into eye-catching expressionist paintings.

Sadequain was a master muralist and his murals adorn the halls at State Bank of Pakistan, Power House at the Mangla Dam, Lahore Museum, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, Geological Institute of India, just to name a few.

After Sadequain transformed the art of calligraphy into a mainstream art form, most of the known Pakistani artists followed Sadequain, and calligraphic art now dominates the art scene. Sadequain also painted in bold form the poetic verses of Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz, which illustrate his love for classical literature. He belonged to the school of thought which enriched realism with lyricism. Sadequain wrote thousand of quartets and published them. Sadequain is the only painter who has been copied openly and widely by many painters and even the copies fetch large sums to the copiers, an irony since the artist himself hardly ever sold his works in spite of offers coming from royals and the common public. For example, his masterpiece rendition of Sureh-e-Rehman has been copied widely by many known painters of the modern era.

Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Pakistani Awards), also often referred to as Sadequain Naqqash, was a world-renowned Pakistani artist, best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a painter. He is considered as one of the finest painters and calligraphers Pakistan has ever produced. Sadequain was responsible for the renaissance of Islamic calligraphy in Pakistan. He claimed that his transformation into a calligrapher was manifested by divine inspiration. He did not follow the tradition and created his own style of script. His alphabets exude motion, mood, and paint vivid pictures of the message of the word. Sadequain claimed that many of his paintings especially after the seventies had been based on calligraphic forms to portray images of cities, buildings, forests, men, and women.

Before Sadequain, few painters had experimented with the medium in Pakistan. Sadequain is commended for bringing calligraphy into a mainstream art form, as most of the known Pakistani artists have followed Sadequain and calligraphic art now dominates the art scene. Sadequain also painted classical literature from the poetic verses of Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz. He belonged to the school of thought which enriched realism with lyricism. Sadequain Illustrated French Nobel Prize winning writer Albert Camus, Ghalib, Iqbal, and Faiz. Sadequain was the most prolific painter of the post partition Pakistan. He was constantly at work and he worked on large scale. He worked on large murals for public buildings symbolic of the collective labor of humanity and his work was mostly donated to the public.



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Sadequain Naqvi

Legendary Artist of International Repute

Born 1930, Amroha, India

Died 1987, Karachi, Pakistan

B.A. in Art History and Geography, Agra University (1948)

Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi was one of the first Pakistani artists to gain international recognition, embarking on his notable career with an award from the Biennale de Paris in 1961. The artist was born in Amroha, India, descending from a family of Qur’an scribes and is recognized as the foremost calligrapher and painter of Pakistan, responsible for the renaissance of Islamic calligraphy in the country since the late 1960s and bringing the art form into the mainstream. In the late 1940s, Sadequain joined the Progressive Writers and Artists Movement and through his career, produced works of thematic content reflected by his commitment to social justice, and the progressive ideals of his peers of writers and poets. On the eve of Partition, Sadequain painted anti-British, nationalistic slogans in Dehli and such politically charged works gained the artist a wider, responsive audience both abroad and in Pakistan among the 1960s intelligentsia.

Sadequain's unique visual vocabulary stemmed from the complex merging of Eastern (calligraphy) and Western (figurative) traditions in art, alongside Hindu and Muslim ideology. Sweeps of a calligraphic brush are echoed in the artist's flamboyant approach to painting figures but his forms and themes are mostly biographical. Contortions to figurative style arose from his observation of wild, defiant cacti growing against the odds in the deserts of Gadani (Karachi) which left an indelible impression on the artist and his work. Colors used are simplistic, yet provide strong structural elements through Sadequain's contrast of etched strokes.

In terms of Sadequain's work in calligraphy, outside of Quranic verses, the artist's affinity to literature resulted in works illustrating the classical poetry of Iqbal, Ghalib and Faiz. With the support of state patronage, Sadequain completed many celebrated commissions, notably the ceiling of Lahore Museum and the ambitious mural "The Treasures of Time" for the State Bank of Pakistan, depicting the evolution of mankind and tracing the history of great intellectuals. Other commissions include The Power House at the Mangla Dam, Geological Institute of India, Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University. In 2003, a retrospective entitled "The Holy Sinner: Sadequain" was exhibited at the Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi.

Sadequain died on February 10, 1987 in Karachi at the age of 57.

Select Solo Exhibitions

2015 Sadequain | Exaltations: Featuring Works from the Lost Exhibition, Aicon Gallery, New York

2014 Sadequain | A Retrospective: Including Works from The Lost Exhibition, Aicon Gallery, New York

1981 International Trade Fair, New Delhi

Indian Council for Cultural Relations at State Lalit Kala Academy, Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi

1971-72 Exposition of calligraphies that lasted eight months at Lahore Museum

Exposition of paintings based on Ghalib’s poetry at Lahore Museum

1970 Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi

Liaquat Memorial Hall, Rawalpindi

1966 Retrospective Exhibition of 300 paintings at the Banking Hall of the State Bank Headquarters, Karachi

Exhibition on Lloyd Triestino’s ship “Victoria” while crossing the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea

Exhibition of drawings at Hotel Intercontinental Karachi.

1963 Henry Gallery, Washington

1962 Galerie Lambert, Paris

Karachi at Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy’s residence in Clifton

Exhibition at the Town Hall in Quetta

Held numerous one-man exhibitions at Quetta Residency

Select Group Exhibitions

2010 Figure/Landscape – Part One & Two, Aicon Gallery, New York

1986 Exhibition of calligraphies at Frere Hall

1985 Anjuman-e-Sadaat-e-Amroha in Karachi, Pakistan

Exhibition of calligraphies in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

1982 Kennedy Hall, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi Urdu Ghar, Hyderabad

Exhibition of calligraphies and drawings, State Lalit Kala Academy, Lucknow, India Exhibition of calligraphies at Ghalib Academy, New Delhi

1974 Lahore Museum; Islamabad at PNCA; Karachi Arts Council; Municipal Library Hall, Dubai; Main Hall, Hilton Hotel, Abu Dhabi; Markazul Funoon, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; National Museum of Damascus, Syria; Hall of Jordan Intercontinental, Amman, Jordan; Art Gallery of Kuwait City, Kuwait;Museum of Modern Art, Baghdad

1969 Arts Council Building, Karachi

1966 Exhibition sponsored by Automobile Club of France, Place de la Concorde, Paris

1965 Several exhibitions in France including Nouran Havre, Palais de la Mediterranean, Chateau-Musee Annecy, Musee Casino Dieppe, Casino de Charbonnieres, and Musee Macon

Arts Council Gallery, Karachi; Alhamra, Lahore

1964 Galerie Presboug, Paris

1963 Commonwealth Institute Galleries, London

N.V.C. Gallery, London

5th Salon of the "Young and Great Artists," Museum of Modern Art, Paris

Awards

1982 International Gold Mercury Award

1980 Government of Pakistan, Sitara-e-Imtiaz

1975 Government of Australia, Cultural Award

1962 President of Pakistan, President’s Medal of Honor for Pride of Performance

1961 Government of France, Biennale de Paris

1960 Government of Pakistan, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and First Prize in the All Pakistan National Exhibition of Paintings

Commissions & Murals

1982 Designed calligraphy of Aligarh Muslim University’s logo for Moulana Azad Library

Executed a mural, “Quest for Reality,” for Banaras Hindu University

Executed five-story circular calligraphy based on “Asma-e-Husna” for Indian

Institute of Islamic Studies, New Delhi

1981 Inauguration of Galerie Sadequain in Islamabad

1978-9 Published book of poetry with illustrations, working mostly on calligraphic work

1972 Executed “Sura-e-Yasin,” 260 feet long on wooden panels for the Islamic

Gallery in

Lahore Museum and donated it to the museum

1970 Published privately First Edition of the Rubaiyyat-e-Sedequain Naqqash

1968 Executed the mural “Quest for Knowledge II” for the library of the Punjab

University

Executed two murals for Auditorium of Punjab Univ., “Confrontation” &

“Triumph”

1967 Executed a mural “Saga of Labor” at Mangla Dam Power House

Executed a Mural “Light of the Book” in the Punjab Public Library

1966 Executed a mural in Lausanne, Switzerland entitled “Pakistan” in the Pakistan

Pavilion in the Swiss Fair - later exhibited in New York, Tokyo and Toronto, Canada

Executed a mural “Flight” in the PIA Office at Paris

1965 Executed a mural “War and Peace” at Karachi

1964 Selected to do color lithographs for a special publication of the novel by Albert

Camus, “L’ Étranger (The Stranger)” published by the Automobile Club of

France.

1962 Permanent display at Galerie Mona Lisa, Paris

1959 Executed a mural “Quest for Knowledge” at the Services Club in Karachi

Executed a mural for the Committee Room at Mangla Dam on Dignity of Labor

1955 Executed two murals in Jinnah Central Hospital Karachi War #5

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