Priya Singh
Head of Sale
Lot 46*
Sadequain(1930-1987)Sahib Khatoon
14 November 2023, 15:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £5,000
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Enrica Medugno
Sale Coordinator
Sadequain (1930-1987)
Sahib Khatoon
early 1950s
pastel on paper, framed
48.2 x 38.1cm (19 x 15in).
early 1950s
pastel on paper, framed
48.2 x 38.1cm (19 x 15in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Property from a private collection, Pakistan.
Painted by Sadequain for Brigadier Iltaf Hussain Bokhari;
Thence by descent.
This is an early and rare work by Sadequain and it was painted by Sadequain for Brigadier Iltaf Hussain Bokhari, a settlement Commissioner in Quetta in 1954. Sadequain moved to Quetta in 1954 as he had contracted Tuberculosis and the Tuberculosis Sanatoriam was located here. Brigadier Bokahari helped Sadequain during this period and upon learning that he was a painter, he not only commissioned this portrait of his wife Sahib Khatoon, but also introduced him to art patrons. It is no coincidence therefore, that 1954 was the year that Sadequain held his first solo exhibition in Quetta. Stylistically, this work echoes the few portraits that we know he painted in the academic style in 1953, chief among them is the portrait of his brother, Hasnain Ahmad and that of an elegantly dressed young man wearing a collared shirt. They all carry a gentleness of mood, a deft hand at tonal rendering and a highly observant eye.
Bonhams extends their gratitude to Mrs Salima Hashmi for her assistance with cataloguing this work.