There is no simple way to critically read Ismail Gulgee’s art as it constantly challenges you with its complex layers of meaning and converging sensibilities. With each strand that you disentangle, you discover an aspect of the artist who was born in a century of great change. He navigated the global upheaval by bridging international art worlds with powerful patrons and collectors. His calligraphies speak to public audience and have won him a place as a revered Master in his country. He also pushed calligraphic forms, the energy of exuberance and spatial illusion to create a sui generis body of work.

Gulgee, one of Pakistan’s foremost Modernists, started his career as an engineer. He lived in the USA during the late 1940s, a time that coincided with the advent of Abstract Expressionism, when groundbreaking works from the studios of Rothko and Jackson Pollack had begun to offer new aesthetic possibilities. As emblems of American Modernism, their art was hailed as a significant moment in twentieth century art history. His well-documented Karachi encounter with