December 19, 2007...5:03 pm
Pakistani artist Gulgee has been murdered!
What a sad day ….
KARACHI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Ismail Gulgee, Pakistan’s most prominent artist, was found murdered on Wednesday along with his wife and a maid in their Karachi home, police said. He was 81. They said the three were found gagged in different rooms of the house, which is in the city’s most upmarket district. The hands of his wife, Zarina, were tied. “All three were suffocated. This happened around three days ago,” said senior Karachi police officer Asif Ejaz Sheikh. He said Gulgee’s body was found in the bedroom, his wife’s body in the kitchen and the maid in the main hall. The bodies were found by police after a neighbour complained of a bad smell. Gulgee trained as an engineer in the United States before turning to painting works of modern art. He won various awards. After starting out as a portrait painter, he turned to more abstract painting and became interested inIslamic calligraphy. He produced numerous works using the different names of Allah, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York said on its Web site (www.metmuseum.org). “In these textural works, Gulgee brings the Islamic calligraphy tradition to the modern practice of action painting such as that developed by the American artist Jackson Pollock,” the museum said. President Pervez Musharraf said on his Web site Gulgee was his “all-time favourite” artist. Musharraf condemned the killings, state television reported. Gulgee was born in Peshawar in 1926. His son, Amin Gulgee, is a well-known sculptor. (Reporting by Imtiaz Shah; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Grant McCool)
7 Comments
December 19, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I am speechless !
(Ye qaum kahan ja rahi hai?)
December 19, 2007 at 8:29 pm
it is a sad loss
i had met the couple a few times
the wife was a very domineering person but ismail himself was very polite and a perfect gentleman
i understand his son lives right next to him
digression: was watching a programme on them just some hours back in geo tv … think it was ek din geo ke saath
December 19, 2007 at 9:03 pm
mansoor mani just texted me this terrible news and i was thinking, why? apparently it was not a burglary, and on the surface it seems almost like an ellroyesque mystery.
i don’t know if this is a case of “where is this country headed,” though. without trying to sound glib or blase, it could happen anywhere. all one can hope is that they find the culprits soon.
tragic.
December 20, 2007 at 9:12 am
“Who needs such people” is the reason, i think
Who needs these painters who do painting against hukam of Allah. they make “idols”, they drink wine , they do all anti islam things
Pakistani media is talking bout the “glass of cognac” in the hand of Guljee , day and night
This nation doesnt need Artists, it needs Suicide bombers and moral vigilantes
other day a TV show was making fun of Amin Guljeee and Guljee , in a very pathetic way . Amin’s lifestyle was being criticized in the most cruel way.
Now an Inquiry will be done that will discover a trivial cause like a “servant” having some grudge , the real reasons will never come up , From murder of Iqbal Messiah to Danial Pearl this is the best still Pakistani state has
December 20, 2007 at 9:28 am
You are right Sherry. I too had a glimpse of that program while switching channels. It was indeed pathetic and derogatory how they were making mockery of Gul Jee’s demeanor and they way he conducts himself. I mean that was not sarcasm or comedy - it was simply disgusting. Its like children use to make faces at each other and laugh aimlessly. I don’t understand what kind of message they are giving to young ones who are watching.
Its indeed a sorry state of affairs. Reminds one of Hakim Saeed too. His murderers were not caught also.
December 22, 2007 at 12:46 am
This is certainly one of the most tragic losses for the people of Pakistan.
December 22, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I am grate fan of Gulgee.
for me the news of his death was a great sorrow I really don’t understand what has happened to our country ,any thing can be happen to any one. People r not even save in there own house . Today I’m feeling really very shame to be Pakistani. I stay in Bahrain and my wish was to meet Gulgee in my life and now my wish is …………. he was so old! so humble, so patriot, his work show too much love for Allah the mighty…………why someone murdered him what wrong he have done to other.
in his interview he said that there is no respect for artist in Pakistan ……. and this is really very true there is not at all respect for any one in Pakistani. at end I will just say ………..
I love you Gulgee no one knows how I am feeling about u ,
may god rest his sole in peace
zahra
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