Sadequain Foundation USA

Sadequain

#sadequain, #sadequainfoundation, sadequain, sadequain foundation, sadequain art

Foundation

Sadequain

#sadequain, #sadequainfoundation, sadequain, sadequain foundation, sadequain art

Foundation

Sadequain
Foundation

#sadequain, #sadequainfoundation, sadequain, sadequain foundation, sadequain art

World Opinion

Sadequain traveled all over the world long before it became fashionable and accessible to his generation. His paintings were widely displayed on five continents and received praise from public and connoisseurs alike and commanded generous press coverage.

AFRICA

Al-Ahram, Cairo, Egypt

November 2, 1974

His paintings are characterized by a humanitarian touch, which abhors destruction and death and calls for life. The breath-taking beauty and elegance of the Arabic alphabet in its permutations and combinations of the horizontal, the vertical and the curvilinear, enthralled Egyptian artists.

ASIA

Milli Gazette, Istanbul, Turkey

December 11, 1975

Sadequain, Pioneer of Islamic Painting.

ASIA

Yeni Ulus, Ankara, Turkey

December 10, 1975

Sadequain, who became famous more than twenty years ago for his abstract paintings, introduced something quite unique in the world of art, namely the ornate paintings or calligraphy of verses of the Holy Quran.

ASIA

Al-Dustour, Amman, Jordan

November 29, 1974

Sadequain, The Great Islamic Artist and his ability to transform Arab Calligraphy into Expressive Paintings. For the first time in modern history, an Islamic Artist surpassed himself and others in East and West.

ASIA

Al-Liwa, Lebanon

November 16, 1974

Sadequain, a great contemporary artist. He is very serious and a social critic with a transparent eye to things and life. It seems that Sedequain is not indebted at all to Western Art, for, he only emerges from two springs the Muslim past and the natural environment of his country and all his artistic works are combined either with Muslim past or with human being and from them he drives his inspiration.

ASIA

Khaleej Times, UAE

June 20, 1980

Renaissance of Islamic Calligraphy. A mystic artist from Pakistan who has become a legend in his own time. The remarkable story of Sadequain, who did not seek but was endowed with divine inspiration.

ASIA

Tehran Journal, Tehran, Iran

January 2, 1976

However, none of the works on display are for sale and many prospective buyers have been disappointed by this aspect of his exhibition.

ASIA

UAE News, UAE

October 26, 1974

His exhibition in Abu Dhabi has been seen by many people and most of the visitors who inspected his works wanted to buy them. “But the exhibits are not for sale” he told them.

AUSTRALIA

Daily West, Perth, Australia

August 1975

Sadequain, the great speaker of truth.

EUROPE

London Times, London, England

November 7, 1963

There is an impressive fund of energy in his works.

EUROPE

Le Figaro, Paris, France

October 16, 1962

Raymond Congiat wrote, “Sadequain adds up the impression of space, density, volume, and the reality of matter, which transforms an abstract thought into a material fact in plastic.”

EUROPE

Le Monde et La Vie, Paris, France

April 1964

The multiplicity of Sadequain’s gifts is reminiscent of Picasso.

USA

Christian Science Monitor, USA

January 1970

Pakistan’s pride — Artist Sadequain.

USA

New York Times, USA

October 22, 1975

There is a New Personality in Art.

USA

Washington Post, USA

October 22, 1975

Pakistan’s Sadequain — Upside Down Artist.

USA

Washington Post, USA

August 11, 1963

Like every born artist Sadequain thinks in terms of form rather than the subject matter. His drawings are sophisticated and knowledgeable.

EUROPE

Pictures on Exhibit, Paris, France

October 1963

Sadequain’s recent exhibition at Galerie Mona Lisa, Paris suggests there is a new personality in art.

EUROPE

Romania Libera, Bucharest, Romania

October 22, 1975

Sadequain, A Remarkable Messenger of Pakistani Art. The huge paintings of Sadequain’s calligraphy illustrating thus to their best, the eloquent sources of an art that succeeds in suggesting the passionate approach of many fundamental views on human being’s existence.

EUROPE

Scinteia, Bucharest, Romania

October 22, 1975

The creation of Sadequain is a modern vision of a strong expressiveness and commotional force.

EUROPE

The Arts Review, London, England

October 6, 1963

In Sadequain’s gouaches the metamorphoses of plant into human figures have cosmic implications.

More About Murals

Mural art is as old as human civilization. In the early ages, visual art reached its peak when artists created mural art to record traditions, events, and convictions of their times for posterity. The archeologists are now using these valuable pieces of art to trace the history of the world. Some of the oldest examples of visual art are found in the form of wall engravings in different parts of the world, including the caves of Ellora in India and the pyramids in Egypt.

Because public art at public places is accessible to everyone regardless of class, education or ethnicity, it is an effective means of social communication. Muralists have the advantage in reaching out to a much wider audience and are not limited to studios or art galleries. Mural art has existed for centuries, but it has not been adapted widely in Pakistan, perhaps because of lack of patronage required from state or private institutions and partly because of lack of muralists who have that special skill and aptitude required to work on large canvases.

The era of modern mural paining was heralded during the renaissance period in Europe after Michelangelo and his contemporaries painted the walls and ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and other public buildings. Later examples of modern mural painting are the Mexican artists, Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. In 1920s they painted murals on public buildings that captured historical events and glorified Mexican history in a manner that could be understood by the common man. Sadequain painted several murals at unprecedented scale and pace that had not been seen in the region before him or since. His hallmark murals glorified the dignity of man, man’s struggle and advancements in the past and hope for the future. The themes of the murals are wide and subjects are diverse, having the common thread that highlights the virtues as well as the shortcomings. Generally, government institutions or large private organizations fund mural projects for a number of reasons. One obvious reason for the initiative being the beautification, but more importantly, the murals capture the pulse of the nation; people feel connected to the murals, which portray their lives, their culture, and preserve it for the future generations to experience.

Sadequain painted more than 45 murals in his life, which are the best examples of public art and an important part of our cultural heritage. His murals are spread over India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Starting from early 1950s and until 1987, when he passed away, he painted, on average, at least one mural for every year of his professional life. His first 2 murals were painted on the walls of the Jinnah Hospital in Karachi, and then he completed a third mural measuring 45 x 8 feet for the Karachi International Airport. All three of these murals are now missing and their whereabouts are unknown. His last mural was mounted on the ceiling of the Frere Hall in Karachi, which was left incomplete because of his death before the mural was finished.

It is difficult to judge Sadequain’s art by applying the same criteria as applied to most others, because he did not adhere to the basic techniques and traditional themes of representation and interpretation of art. Mural painting is a challenging task, artistically, logistically, and technically. A classical composition demands the masterful skill of making an opening statement, unfolding a subject, and completing the storyline, while filling a large canvas without a void. If doing a painting were akin to writing a short story then painting a mural would be comparable to authoring a voluminous book, which is a far more challenging task that requires imagination, relevant theme, and a reservoir of energy. Then, the large size of the mural poses additional challenge of the need for a large space, which is seldom available to the artists. And last, what do you do with the mural after it is completed unless it is a commissioned work?

Sadequain’s monumental murals represent unparalleled body of artistic genius by any artist of the country, and perhaps the region.  These murals adorn the halls of the State Bank of Pakistan in Karachi, Frere Hall in Karachi, Lahore Museum, Punjab University, Punjab Public Library, Mangla Dam, Aligarh Muslim University, Banaras Hindu University, National Geophysical Research Institute in Hyderabad, India, Indian Institute of Islamic Studies in Delhi, and Abu Dhabi Power House to name a few. To put it in perspective, his paintings and calligraphies in the building of Indian Institute of Islamic Studies in Delhi cover more than 3,000 square feet of surface area. Many of the murals still exist, though majority of them are in an acute state of dis-repair, some have been moved to different locations, and at least 15 murals are now missing under suspicious circumstances, with seemingly no trace left behind them. Some examples of the missing murals are the 2 murals from the Jinnah Hospital in Karachi, one mural from the International Airport in Karachi, one mural at Pakistan International Airlines office in Paris, and one mural at Customs House in Karachi, to name a few.

His murals paid homage to the struggle of the working class, the challenges and opportunities for the mankind, the bounties of mother earth, human progress through the ages, and hope for the future. His work often highlighted the issues of socio-economic struggle that Sadequain used as an effective vehicle for social expression. Sadequain said that his murals are to educate and inspire as well as to foster a sense of identity and pride in the members of the community.

His murals are thematic, rich in content, unique in style and appropriately indicative of the significance of the venues where they are displayed. For example, his mural “War and Peace” in Karachi, and “Quest for Knowledge” in the Punjab University in Lahore, are some of the finest pieces of artistic form and style. If his paintings are a snap shot of a concept or reality, then his murals unfold intriguing stories of mankind about its achievements in space and time. Pioneering the art of public mural-making in Pakistan, he painted with incredible energy and speed, scores of large murals on a variety of subjects, honoring the toiling masses, the over-achievers, national concerns, and potentialities that lie ahead of the mankind to be harnessed.

Characters in his murals are not the portraits of kings or queens, or the bourgeois class or the powerful, but they are symbolic representation of the ordinary members of society, or those who helped pave the path to enlightenment. By design, they do not represent any particular group or race, however they can be identified by their trades because they are shown working with instruments and tools of their profession. For example, one character would be writing a book and another would be gazing at the stars with binoculars, thus indicating their profession as a writer and an astronomer. His imagery is abstract in nature, which requires the viewer to not just look, but more importantly to analyze it.

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