The Saga of Sadequain

The Saga Of Sadequain

This book is an attempt to honor Sadequain’s written by Dr. Salman Ahmad Naqvi unfulfilled desire to pen his autobiography. It synthesizes Sadequain’s life and analyzes his work, which has not been done to this extent in the past. It is a celebration of the most intriguing and innovative work of a national icon, who crossed the traditional and predefined boundaries of artistic forms, norms, subjects, objects, shades, dimensions, and every other confinement that he deemed as an obstruction. He did not work under some preplanned marketing plan, but rather allowed his destiny guide him freely toward the peaks of perfection. Compliance was not in his genes. In the process he produced with abundance some of the most magnificent collection of artwork by any measure, rich in content, diverse in nature, grand in scale, and large in numbers. The breadth and depth of Sadequain’s palette is so far reaching that it demands serious scholarship to fathom its essence.

Sadequain (1930 - 1987)

Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi (Urdu: سیّد صادِقَین احمد نقوی) (30 June 1930 – 10 February 1987), and often referred to as Sadequain Naqqash, was a historical Pakistani artist and poet best known for his skills as a calligrapher and a painter. He is considered one of the finest painters and calligraphers Pakistan has ever produced, having painted around 15000 paintings. He is also recognized as the only artist in Pakistan to have received all four civilian awards such as the Nishan-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, and Pride of Performance.

Sadequain was born on 30 June 1930 in Amroha, into a family of calligraphers. He, along with his family members, had migrated to Pakistan during the 1947 partition, residing in the Nazimabad neighbourhood of Karachi. In late 1940s he joined the Progressive Writers' and Artists Movement. His true talent was discovered by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy who brought Sadequain into the limelight. He also spent some time in Paris augmenting his skills.