Pakistan's Ismail Gulgee, known as both a portraitist and painter of Islamic abstract art, was found murdered Wednesday in his Karachi home, police say.

Gulgee was found strangled along with his wife and their maid, according to a police spokesman.

Pakistani painter Ismail Gulgee, shown in May 2007, was found strangled to death on Wednesday.
(Associated Press)

Police broke into the house and found the bodies after Gulgee's son, who lives in another part of the house, reported a foul smell from his parents' quarters.

Gulgee and his wife appeared to have been dead at least three days, police said.

Gulgee, 81, a native of Peshawar, trained as an engineer in the U.S., but began painting portraits in the 1950s. He once painted the Afghan royal family.

In the early 1960s, he turned to abstract painting, inspired by Islamic calligraphy and design elements.

His mixed-media paintings incorporate mirror glass or gold leaf among brightly coloured designs in oil paint.

Gulgee enjoyed government support and many commissions from people throughout the Islamic world, including the Saudi royal family. His works appear in the famous Faisal Mosque in Islamabad.

Admission to a gallery devoted to his work, the Gulgee Museum in Clifton, part of Karachi, is by invitation only.

In a posting on his website, President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killings on Wednesday, and said Gulgee was his "all-time favourite" artist.

The artist is survived by his son, Amin Gulgee, a well-known sculptor.