Saaed Akhtar [ Urdu: سعىد اختتر ] ( b: 1938) is Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

's foremost portrait painter. He started gaining prominent during the late 1970s and the 1980s.

Early life

He spent an early part of his life in Quetta

Quetta

is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...

, Balochistan

Balochistan (Pakistan)

Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...

 where his father was an Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 teacher to the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 officers stationed there. He graduated from National College of Arts

National College of Arts

The National College of Arts Lahore, usually referred to by its acronym NCA, is a famous old college in Lahore, Pakistan.Like all old institutions, the National College of Arts, has a historical tradition. Much of its present tone was set long ago when it was known as the Mayo School of Arts...

, Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

 in 1964 with a major in sculpture.

Art career

Soon after graduating from NCA, Akhtar joined its teaching staff. His major commission project is Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1970). It currently hangs in the State Bank of Pakistan

State Bank of Pakistan

The State Bank of Pakistan is the central bank of Pakistan. While its constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until January 1, 1974, when the bank was nationalized, the scope of its functions was considerably enlarged...

 building in Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

. His work has been displayed in many exhibitions in pakistan.
Akhtar was commissioned to design Pakistan's largest stamp issue consisting of 27 stamps (SG 801-827) depicting personalities from the freedom movement of the country in 1990. His other designs include the Golden Jubilee of Pakistan issue (SG 1021-1024) and 50th Death Anniversary of Mohammad Ali Jinnah (SG 1048) (set and souvenir sheet).

Further reading

• Mahmud, Dr. Khalid, "Saeed Akhtar" Tropical Printers, Lahore 2010. Review online

External links

• Strokes of a Maestro by Sahar Haris. Retrieved 27 July 2010
• Saeed Akhtar Artsblog (Italian). Retrieved 29 July 2010