Ahmed Saeed Nagi ( ur, احمد سعید ناگی) (2 February 1916 – 1 September 2006), was a noted Pakistani painter artist. He was known as the 'official artist' of the Pakistan freedom movement.Profile of Ahmed Saeed Nagi on Dawn (newspaper)
Published 2 September 2006, Retrieved 7 October 2020 Having a portrait made by Nagi became a trademark for top politicians since Nagi made the first portrait of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, (the founder of Pakistan). A person who believed in universality, he was known for his friendship with the late

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

, which was partly the reason he never painted a portrait of

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

.Saeed Nagi dies
The News International (newspaper), Published 2 September 2006, Retrieved 7 October 2020

Early life and career

Ahmed Saeed Nagi received his education in Amritsar,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

and Paris. He was a

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

activist from 1944 to 1947. Pakistani leaders

Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

and

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

used to give him assignments that he would complete for them in Lahore and other Pakistani cities. He performed art work at the Governor House Karachi, Governor House, Lahore, the historically significant

Mohatta Palace The Mohatta Palace ( ur, ) is a museum located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Designed by ''Muhammad komail Hussain'', the palace was built in 1927 in the posh seaside locale of Clifton as the summer home of Shivratan Mohatta, a Hindu Marwari bus ...

building in Karachi. He also performed art work at the Ziarat Residency of Jinnah in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

, Governor House in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

and at the Punjab Assembly building in Lahore.

Exhibits

Ahmed Saeed Nagi held exhibits of his paintings in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, New York,

Simla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, th ...

and

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Death and survivors

Ahmed Saeed Nagi died on 1 September 2006 at the Agha Khan Hospital in

. He was 90. He is survived by three sons and a daughter.

Awards and recognition

* His two stalls— Export Pavilion & Tourist Bureau – received Gold Medal Awards for them * His name was included in the 'Encyclopedia of World Art' * In recognition of his outstanding achievements as a painter artist, he was honored with the

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

in 1990 * A book written by Safi Safdar on Ahmed Saeed Nagi's art, titled 'Ahmed Saeed Nagi and his art: an artist with a national vision' A book review of a book on Ahmed Saeed Nagi's art
Retrieved 7 October 2020

References

1916 births 2006 deaths Recipients of the Pride of Performance 20th-century Pakistani painters Artists from Karachi Pakistan Movement activists {{Pakistan-painter-stub

Early life and career

Exhibits

Death and survivors

Awards and recognition

See also

References