SELECT WORLD PRESS ON SADEQUAIN

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.

Below are select excerpts from print media from all five continents. News excerpts from Pakistan and India are not included.

 

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.

Tasvir, Ankara, Turkey
December 17, 1975

The renowned artist Sadequain is highly keen and productive artist.

Milli Gazette, Istanbul, Turkey
December 17, 1975

The people who visited Sadequain’s exhibition were delighted to see that the gallery had assumed an entirely different look due to Sadequain’s works on display.

Tasvir, Ankara, Turkey
December 10, 1975

The renowned artist Sadequain is most prolific.

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.

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.

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.

Al-Thawra, Damascus, Syria
November 27, 1974

From within these works, Sadequain seems a calligraphist, and original master of his craft to the extent that he carries out the script from all directions with power, mastery and perfection.

Al-Urdun, Amman, Jordan
November 27, 1974

When his pen moves in his hands, it seems all nature, including the past, present and future moves.

Kayhan International, Iran
January 4, 1976

Calligraphy takes off into space.

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.

Rastakhez, Tehran, Iran
January 4, 1974

From Agony to Ecstasy.

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.

The Daily News, Kuwait
November 26, 1974

Sadequain is a lean thin man of 44, very amiable and pleasant and every inch an artist. He lives the life of a dervish.

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.

 

AUSTRALIA:

Daily West, Perth, Australia
August 1975

Sadequain, the great speaker of truth.

 

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.”

Le Monde et La Vie, Paris, France
April 1964

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

London Times, London, England
November 7, 1963

There is an impressive fund of energy in his works.

Pictures on Exhibit, Paris, France
October 1963

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

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.

Scinteia, Bucharest, Romania
October 22, 1975

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

The Arts Review, London, England
October 6, 1963

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

The Arts Review, London, England
November 30, 1963

Although Sadequain’s paintings are saturated with all that identifies him with his natural background or development he has clearly succeeded in transplanting his vision into an internationally understood medium.

The Arts Review, London, England
December 15, 1963

The exhibition of paintings by Sadequain held in Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery so impressed the directors of the New Vision Center that they have arranged a subsequent show of his work.

DAWN’s London Correspondent
November 2, 1963

Art critics on both sides of the Atlantic and particularly in parts where Sadequain is living at present are unanimous in their praise of his evocative use of large dramatic forms and his distinctive color range. He is by far the most exciting and imaginative Pakistani artist to enter and conquer the western art world.

 

USA:

Christian Science Monitor, USA
January 1970

Pakistan’s pride — Artist Sadequain.

New York Times, USA
August 14, 1963

There is a New Personality in Art.

Washington Post, USA
July 28, 1963

Pakistan’s Sadequain — Upside Down Artist.

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.