Sadequain (Pakistan, 1930-1987)


Calligraphic Panel Signed 'Sadequain', dated indistinctly and dedicated to Ishaq Sahib in Urdu lower rightInk on canvas71 x 426cm (27 15/16 x 167 11/16in).
|Provenance:From the collection of Mohammed Ishaq Yakoob. This work depicts a section of Chapter six, Surah Al An'am, verse one of the Holy Qur'an:'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light.' (6:1) 'Critics of Sadequain have frequently alleged that towards the last years of this life the painter was seduced by a military regime to produce a large number of calligraphies, which were seen to be a suitable visual expression of the state's ideology. And his works, consisting primarily of sacred texts from the Quran, helped the government acquire an aura of patronage from the promotion of religious art, ostensibly aimed at projecting a non-secular and theocratic image for the country.' (Abdul Hamid Akhund et al, Sadequain: The Holy Sinner, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi, 2003, p. 77)'For prolonged periods of time in the last eighteen years of his artistic career, Sadequain more or less abandoned his figurative art for calligraphy. His inventive and individualistic calligraphy was merely an armour whereby Sadequain caused popular. Emotion to transfix itself in the sacred nature of his work. This sacramental façade became an iron curtain that concealed the lurid and often agonizing fantasies that engulfed the inner recesses of his mind' (Abdul Hamid Akhund et al, Sadequain: The Holy Sinner, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi, 2003, pp. 5-6)'I don't believe the purpose of art is to entertain' he says. 'You see, art emerges from a cultural pattern of a country in the same way that a plant emerges from a distinct soil in a certain climate . it should reflect the aspirations of the people, their triumphs and tragedies.' (Abdul Hamid Akhund et al, Sadequain: The Holy Sinner, Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi, 2003, p. 124)