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A rare visionary, Sadequain was able to bridge the gulf between the
disparate groups in society. At the age of 31 his work won
recognition at the 1961 Paris Biennial. Sadequain had a prolific
career and much of his work is displayed in public places. Like
Diego Rivera, he celebrated the role of the proletariat. His early
mural, based on the dignity of labour is housed in the Mangla dam,
near Islamabad. Later he painted a mammoth ceiling for The Lahore
Museum based on poet Iqbal’s verses evoking the spirit of man to
triumph over odds. While working on his second ceiling at the Freer
Hall in Karachi, the painter took ill and died leaving the work
incomplete. During his life Sadequain became a cult figure with a
large following from all walks of life.
Elongated human forms with bleeding pen-like fingers and
nest-shaped head were central to his imagery. In the 70s he got
nation-wide fame for his rendering of Quranic verses. Sadequain was
one of the few artists who continuously received State support and
was equally admired by the people. The very work that gave him a
large following did not get critical acclaim. Despite the divided
opinion, his influential position in art history cannot be denied.
He came from a long line of master calligraphers and was perhaps
ideally suited to bridge the gap between modernity and tradition.
The content of his work has wider appeal, the early works addressed
social evils and in the later decades Sadequain used the unifying
spirit of calligraphy to appeal to the masses, who came in large
numbers to see his exhibitions.
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Previous Reviews:
Amin
Gulgee, Mansur
Rahi, Jamil
Naqsh, Laila
Shahzad, Bashir
Mirza
Chughtai,
Ismail
Gulgee
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