AHMED PARVEZ POSTAGE STAMP

Ahmed Parvez was a most prolific painter. From 1955 to 1964, he lived in London and there developed a purely abstract style in which short swift strokes, arcs, ellipses, whorls and circles, were used to build up a design that seemed to explode and erupt and fly apart but were firmly held together in a coherent pattern.

Parvez was renewed for painting of ingenious and intricate abstract compositions. From his first solo exhibition in 1952 to his last in 1979, Parvez passed through many phases as a painter. During all these years, his work was marked by bursts of nervous energy expressed in vigorous short strokes, sharp turns and twists of the line.

Though his work is prismatically colourful, it is basically linear. He conceived a composition and drew, often in thick black line, filled with intense bright colours, which many linked to jewels.

Some of his linear motifs are like Islamic arabesque made up of long hooks, loops, curls, elongated shapes and tear shapes, but in Parvez they are not languid but always bursting with contemporary character.

Parvez was Awarded President's Award for the Pride of Performance in 1978.

Marjorie Husain

This series of Pakistani commemorative postage stamps is a posthumous tribute to Ten Great Painters who helped to raise an awareness of art in Pakistan and established their names in the universal art world.

Pakistan Post