Pakistan's renowned painter Ismail Guljee, his wife Zarine and their maid were found murdered at their residence in Karachi on Wednesday.
Guljee's son Amin discovered the bodies at their home in the posh Clifton area, police said, adding the condition of the victims' bodies suggested that they were strangled about three days ago.
Police said the bodies had been sent for post-mortem but they were no signs of any break-in into their house.
Gulgee, an award-winning world-famous Pakistani artist, was born in Peshawar on October 25, 1926. A qualified engineer from the US, he was a self-taught abstract painter influenced by the tradition of Islamic calligraphy and by the American "action painting" idiom.
Police said it was too early to say anything concrete on why the three persons had been murdered.
"Their faces were covered when they were killed", they added.