To pick the right book on Sadequain — the highly inventive Pakistani modern artist, poet and calligrapher — that complements a reader’s interests, is no easy decision. Previously, art historical scholarship on Sadequain’s art practice — in the 2010 book Modernism and the Art of Muslim South Asia by art historian Iftikhar Dadi and 2015’s Sadequain and the Culture of Enlightenment by late art critic Akbar Naqvi — focused on Islamic art and Urdu literary traditions respectively, while several tomes that reproduce striking visuals and information have been published by the United States-based Sadequain Foundation.

Now, Saiyid Ali Naqvi presents Sadequain: Artist and Poet — A Memoir that learns from Naqvi’s close interest and analyses of Sadequain’s art, poetry, friendship and deep affection for his paternal first cousin. This account is the answer to many queries that surround Sadequain’s origins, fascinations and evolution as a pioneering modern artist.

A memoir is a type of text that explores a factual narrative recalled from personal experiences and memory. This memoir is split into 17 chapters that are each devoted to themes pertaining to the artist and the foci of his art. Sadequain’s popular murals, figurative imagery, his rubaaiyaat [verses in four lines] and natural tendency to draw from an early age form an integral part of this narration.

In the preface, Naqvi clarifies that the book is not a biography of Sadequain, but a memoir that is rooted in their companionship and mutual experiences, several of which are childhood and adolescent encounters in 1940s Karachi, while others include their travels within Pakistan. A close reading suggests that the book may not be strictly a formal memoir, but one that blends certain elements of memoir writing, a chronological investigation of the artist’s motivations, travels, commissions and exhibitions, and formal and symbolic interpretations of Sadequain’s multi-faceted art (and poetry).

Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi and Saiyid Ali Naqvi were born in Amroha, a town near Delhi in then British India. While they lived and grew up in separate havelis, they often sought each other’s company. The author discusses Amroha’s history and identifies their great-grandfather’s house, the non-residential communal makaan — distinct from their respective havelis — known as Sajjad Manzil, as the origin of Sadequain’s art. Moreover, the author observed his cousin’s prowess with sketching and drawing from the age of three and, later, his interests in South Asian artists such as Jamini Roy and several Urdu literary giants.

Naqvi engrosses readers with a robust discussion on scientific phenomena that are fundamental to understanding and interpreting the several layers of Sadequain’s art. Especially rewarding are the chapters allotted to the artist’s profound interest in science, where laws of physics and a study of the cosmos deeply impacted Sadequain’s creative inquiries.

In the first few chapters, Naqvi examines scientific facts such as biology and human evolution, the universe and the advancement of technology. Sadequain was an enthusiastic reader, a deep thinker and an incredible poet whose many verses are inspired from scientific discourse and philosophy, in addition to romance. With nostalgic depictions of a mid-20th century Karachi, the inclusion of Sadequain’s poetry adds greater dimension to Naqvi’s account. The following verse — originally in Urdu — reveals the artist’s zeal for celestial knowledge:

Again and again stars are formed and burn
Creation never ceases
How many universes were created in the past,
How many are yet to be created
(Translated by Saiyid Ali Naqvi)

Like Sadequain’s poetry, which ruminates about the cosmos, his captivating murals are also noted for their formal innovation and symbolic meaning. Distinguished murals include 1961’s ‘Treasures of Time’ at the State Bank Museum in Karachi, 1967’s ‘Saga of Labour’ at Mangla Dam and the unfinished mural ‘Arz-o-Samawaat’ [Earth and Heavens] on the ceiling of the historic Frere Hall Gallery. It was begun in 1986, a few months before Sadequain’s death.

Naqvi fondly reminisces about his trip with the artist to Mangla Dam, on the River Jhelum, where they deliberated details about the mural that was to be painted there. Naqvi writes that Sadequain completed ‘Saga of Labour’ in 10 days. The author’s most recent trip to the mural took place in 2013 — about 46 years after his last visit. He notes the change of the mural’s location, which is now accessible for public viewing, and its remarkable condition, it having suffered only some loss of original colour.

However, not all of Sadequain’s existing artworks are well-guarded. Upon the request of then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, Sadequain travelled to India and painted murals in renowned universities in 1981. With his daughter Fawzia, the author expresses his dismay about their deteriorating conditions; for instance, one mural executed on the exterior wall of the Aligarh Muslim University, has been vandalised and several political pamphlets are now pasted over it.

The memoir also contains the author’s accounts of Sadequain’s first exhibitions and his many letters, which have been reproduced in the book. Later chapters concentrate on Sadequain’s paintings that are his illustrative interpretations of verses from the Holy Quran and of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib and Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s poetry.

Sadequain’s figurative modern art is notable for its unique pictorial conventions and sketch-like quality; Naqvi remembers them in his memoir as the last of the artist’s works before his death in 1987. In the current literature available on the artist, Naqvi’s memoir provides a personal account of the life and works of an artist who continues to enthral and stimulate art audiences posthumously. It serves as an enjoyable text for many readers, as it expedites leisure reading and scholarship.

The reviewer is an art historian and an academic of liberal arts at Institute of Business Administration. She tweets @nageenjs

Sadequain: Artist and Poet — A Memoir
By Saiyid Ali Naqvi
385pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, July 4th, 2021