Sadequain: Sketches & Drawings

Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sadequain: Sketches & Drawings, Karachi: Editions Mystique, 1966

167 pages with 68 illustrations, many in the Cactus Series, printed on one side of each page; 1-page Publisher’s Note by Mazhar Yusuf and 4-page Preface by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, eminent Urdu poet; original black buckram binding with title embossed in silver
8.5 x 7 x 0.5 in (22 x 17.7 x 1.2 cm)

Sadequain was one of Pakistan's most mysterious and prolific modern painters. Sadequain: Sketches & Drawings is an expressive study of the visual cosmos of Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi—a rare and elegant monograph. Published by Editions Mystique, Karachi, in 1966, this 167-page collection features many of the artist's famous Cactus Series monochromatic images on one side of the page, combining abstracted botanical patterns with symbology using raw human forms.

The book begins with a publisher's note by Mazhar Yusuf and a very contemplative four-page preface by the great Urdu poet and philosopher Faiz Ahmed Faiz, whose lyrical language accentuates and contextualizes Sadequain's strong, often mystical imagery. Faiz is positioned as a visionary historian of the human condition by his commentary on the spiritual, philosophical, and sociopolitical aspects of his work.

Beautifully bound in black buckram with a silver title embossing, the publication appeals clearly to collectors. Its limited availability and polished production make it a significant volume for those interested in the junction of modernist aesthetics, poetic sensibility, and postcolonial expression in mid-20th-century Pakistan.