Sad Kurreshi Analysis

Saeed Kureshi – Admiral, Artist and Musician

`Obsessed with the discovery of unexplored areas of the hugely visual terrain, Saeed Kureshi perpetrates deliberate deconstruction of line and form, It all begins with random, but pre-reckoned linear strokes to form a dynamic skeleton of the intended subject or composition…’(quote)

Entering the residence of M Saeed Kureshi and his artist wife, one closes the door on the pin-pricks of daily routine. There one discovers paintings, books and music offering balm against the cares of the world. Saeed, who is a well known artist and prominent art critic, has an art studio-cum gallery in his house. One views paintings on easels with colouration that raises one’s spirits. There is
Chinese artists told me to use cold colours in shadows, warm on highlights and they emphasized mixing colour on the canvas rather than the palette. For achieving depth of field, Ghulam Rasul advised me to use colder colours in the receding background, and warmer colours in the approaching foreground, particularly for landscapes.”

The planning and interest brought about by the magnificent Maritime Museum of Karachi was a time of great interest and excitement. Saeed Kureshi was assigned to the design team of the Museum, and spent considerable time and thought on this project. It is now a museum that is a national pride, with the country’s finest artists and sculptors filling the museum with masterpieces. He was later commissioned to undertake interior design, paintings, murals and sculptures for the PN War College, Lahore, which was inaugurated in 2014.

Saeed’s has been an exciting career, the first navel air engineer, he flew as
From 1986-89, he was on deputation to the Qatar Air Force.

As an artist he spoke of his admiration for the work of Toulouse Lautrec, and of his visits to the Louvre, Picasso, Orangerie and Rodin museums in Paris, and of the Courtauld Gallery in London. Art books are a great source of discovery and pleasure and Saeed reads avidly. In his recent work at the exhibition, the drama of the kaleidoscopic background of the paintings is emphasized with bold areas of colour. Historic architecture is the setting for interesting portraits of mysterious women associated perhaps with unwritten myths.

In the artist’s work, the contrast of his technique with light and shade create a skillful link between the undertones of wistfulness in the portraits linked to the grandeur of history.

“The fragile female forms maintain sensitivity of the vulnerable form itself. One finds the resilient crystalline encasing almost a very delicate form that glows amidst gushing shards of translucent glass…” (Farishtay Saeed Kureshi)

In the music studio Saeed plays the guitar and sings Starry, Starry Night in memory of Vincent, and one reluctantly waves good-bye to the harmonious ambience and returns to the outside