Inspired by the story of Sarmad, 'Artist and the Model VII' is reminiscent of Picasso’s Vollard Suite in terms of its use of simple lines and narrative imagery. Faiz Ahmad Faiz recollected; ‘… when he drew women [his] line became wondrously simple, lithe and lyrical. Sadequain’s male figures were trapped in lethal webs, but his nudes were musical notes or sur sangeeta.’ Naqvi adds; ‘The nude with the decapitated head of the artist in hand, and the headless artist painting her were the living conventions of the ghazal transferred to art.’
Taken from Sadequain: Sketches and Drawings, Editions Mystique, Karachi, 1966