Sadequain - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Little is known about the man who gave away more than $800 million worth of his art works.

This too was a jaw dropping fact for art lovers who attended a ceremony held at a local hotel on Sadequain’s 25th death anniversary.

“That’s how it is every time we hold such events to pay tribute to the legend that is Sadequain that people walk away knowing him better,” said Dr Salman Ahmad, author of the book ‘The Saga of Sadequain’  that was launched Sunday night.

Spread on 850 plus pages with 500 illustrations, the book that documents history that was Sadequain was the largest book to come out on any subject according to the Sadequain Foundation based in the US. The foundation has collected roughly 2,500 images created by Sadequain spread across three continents.

Dr. Salman Ahmad had spent four years collecting facts on Sadequain’s development as an artist and the impact of his lifestyle on his works. This was the ninth book to come out on the painter.

The atmosphere in the hall was gentle and composed and high-quality prints, specially brought from the US, of Sadequain’s paintings and calligraphy were hung around on the walls.

Audience sat attentive as Dr. Salman Ahmad walked his listeners through the artist’s life who had produced an estimated 15,000 serious paintings, drawings and calligraphy – 375 per year and nearly one artistic masterpiece each day.

“European art critics have compared Sadequain to Picasso. He has produced more murals than the Italian Renaissance Michael Angelo and Mexican Diego Rivera whose large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement,” said Salman Ahmad who hoped that people would have more to describe Sadequain whom the world knew little of.

He lamented how three galleries that had come up in Sadequain’s name had gradually vanished. “We are planning to establish a museum in the name of the man who is the subject of several books and focus of many doctoral theses,” he said and described Sadequain as artist operating at a different stratosphere.

Dr Faisal Arjumand, an artist and owner of Gallery 6 in federal capital who collaborated with the Sadequain Foundation to commemorate the death anniversary, explained his audience how Sadequain transformed calligraphy into mainstream art.

“His largest mural is 260 feet long that was completed in 72 hours in a stretch,” said Faisal who described Sadequain as a symbol of Islamic renaissance in calligraphy.

Dr Faisal narrated his experiences with the late painter about how he would give away his art works to whoever admired it.