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Lot 102

 

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One of Pakistan's most prolific and well-known artists, Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi-also known as Sadequain Naqqash-was born in 1930 in Amroha, east of Delhi, to a family of calligraphers. He subsequently moved to Pakistan after his graduation from Agra University in 1948, and shot to fame at the age of 31, when his work won recognition at the 1961 Paris Biennale. The present lot was painted during this time in Paris, a period which yielded some... One of Pakistan's most prolific and well-known artists, Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi-also known as Sadequain Naqqash-was born in 1930 in Amroha, east of Delhi, to a family of calligraphers. He subsequently moved to Pakistan after his graduation from Agra University in 1948, and shot to fame at the age of 31, when his work won recognition at the 1961 Paris Biennale. The present lot was painted during this time in Paris, a period which yielded some of his best works.

Sadequain's visual language is a complex amalgamation of poetry, and Western and South Asian artistic influences. In 1944, he became familiar with the works of Urdu writers and poets while working with the All India Radio in Delhi. The sight of large cactus plants during his residency at Gadani, Pakistan, in 1957 prompted him to move towards "an imagery of exaggerated linearity... This period also marks the beginning of Sadequain's exploration of the jagged, elongated fi gure," as seen in the present lot. (Salima Hashmi and Mohsin Hamid, Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art from Pakistan, New York: The Asia Society Museum, 2009)

The 1960s, when the present lot was painted, was a crucial phase in furthering Sadequain's exploration of calligraphic figuration. He had begun to "appropriate the textual-classical Islamic culture of South Asia in his drawings and paintings." (Hashmi and Hamid) His increased engagement with Urdu during this time became central to his work. Sadequain's visual tropes were, in part, also informed by the work of Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso. The composition of the present lot shows Sadequain's masterful manipulation of the Arabic Kufic script into figures. The rhythmic curved forms are given energy, texture and depth by the scratched surface technique. Works such as the present lot created a modern interpretation of calligraphy, in what Dr. Akbar Naqvi terms "Calligraphic Cubism" in his book Image and Identity. According to the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro, "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.??? (Le Figaro, 16 October 1962)

The Dutilleul family were Parisian collectors, notable for their collection of Old Masters and Impressionist paintings. The family's legacy of collecting and supporting young artists dates back to the early 20th century. This passion continued well into the 1960s when they acquired a number of works by Sadequain, who was living in Paris at the time. The present lot was part of this remarkable collection.

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