Ismail Gulgee

Ismail Gulgee was a self-taught Pakistani painter and sculptor who gained international acclaim for his abstract and gestural interpretations of Arabic and Urdu letters. He was also a skilled portraitist who painted several leaders, including US Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, and Pakistani leaders Zulifqar Ali Bhutto and General Ayub Khan. He started his artistic career as an engineer and received his education from Aligarh University, Columbia University, and Harvard University. He held his first exhibition in Stockholm in 1950, and then moved to Pakistan where he worked on various dam construction projects. He was commissioned by the Afghan King Zahir Shah to paint his portrait and 151 other members of the royal family in 1957. He later turned to abstract art, inspired by Islamic calligraphy and action painting. He used materials such as mirror glass and gold or silver leaf in his oil paintings, creating mixed media pieces. He also created sculptures and mosaics, and designed the rose windows for the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. He received several awards, including the Pride of Performance in 1970 and the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2005. He was married to Zareen Gulgee, a painter and sculptor herself, and had two children, Amin Gulgee and Sharmeen Gulgee, who are also artists. He was brutally murdered along with his wife and maid at his house in Karachi on 16 December 2007. His driver and servant were convicted and given life sentences for the crime in 2017.