Reform & Development of Bangladeshi Art
The movement of modern art started in Dhaka with the establishment of the Dacca Art School
(now Dhaka) in 1948 with Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin as its founding principal. The chronicle of
the contemporary art in Bangladesh commences at the time of partition of the sub-continent in
1947, when Zainul Abedin and some of his contemporaries such as Khaja Shafique Ahmed,
Quamrul Hassan, Shafiqul Amin, Habibur Rahman, Habibullah Bahar, Safiuddin Ahmed, Anwarul
Haq, Syed Ali Ahsan--- all came forward to establish this institution. All of these started with a
few rooms in the Dhaka National Medical College Hospital building located at Johnson Road in
Old Dhaka. In 1952, the facility moved to a building at Segunbagicha in the city. In 1956, the
institution finally moved to its own building in Shahbagh (in the University of Dhaka
neighbourhood) and it was designed by the famed architect Mazharul Islam. Around 1963, the
institution was turned into a government college and was renamed East Pakistan College of Arts
and Crafts. After the Liberation War, the institution became Bangladesh Government College of
Arts and Crafts in 1972. In 1983, the academy was merged with University of Dhaka and became
the Institute of Fine Arts. In 2008, the institute was renamed the Faculty of Fine Arts as part of
the University of Dhaka.
Modern art in Bangladesh is believed to have had its beginning with Zainul Abedin. Zainul
Abedin (1914-1976) spent his childhood in remote area of Mymensingh and he took inspiration
from lush greenery, riverine beauty of the Brahmaputra and its rustic surroundings. He
exercised mastery over a wide range of subjects. He held opinions on topics such as the
environment, patriotism and non-communalism. His canvas was a perfect reflection of the
Bengali way of life. With his touch of artistry these objects came to life in varied manifestations
of ecstasy, hilarity, joy, adoration, anguish, liveliness, conscience and courage.
'Famine 1943', sketch by Zainul Abedin
Zainul went to Calcutta (now Kolkata) to study art in Calcutta Government Art School in 1933.
During the period, he was famous for his superb water color technique and sharp line drawings.
His “Famine Sketch” recalls the famine days of 1943. The heart-rendering series earned Abedin
international acclaim. During that time, Zainul carefully depicted the sufferings of the people
through his sketches. Drawn in Chinese ink and brush on cheap packing paper, the artworks
hold haunting images of utter helplessness the masses felt while dying from hunger. These
sketches still haunt us and take us back to the days when crows, dogs and men shared food in
the dustbins. He always portrayed our critical times on canvas. Abedin’s paintings during the
1950s and 1960s were products of his preference for realism, and folk forms. But after a couple
of years, the iconic figure went back to nature, to rural life, and the daily struggles of man. As
media, oil, water, pen, ink, pencil and pastel are used in his works.
Abedin’s other contemporaries, Quamrul Hassan, Safiuddin Ahmed, SM Sultan and Mohammad
Kibria’s name came to the prominence for their immense contributions to establishing the
modern art movement in the country. All of them had created individual languages through
their artistic articulations and their mode of expressions are diverse including folk, figurative,
semi-figurative, semi-abstract, pure abstract, abstract-expressionism and more.
Quamrul Hassan (1921-1988) was recognized for recuperating our folk and traditional elements
through his art. Hassan was a powerful artist working in almost all media like oil, gouache,
watercolors, pastel, etching, woodcut, linocut, pen and pencil. His works delineated the rural
Bengal and its people. He portrayed figures, natural objects, trees, snakes, owls, jackals, birds,
fish, animals as well as landscape where we can see his passion about portraying rustic scenic
beauty and its untainted beauty. His paintings are recognized for their bold, flowing
brushstrokes and brilliant colours. He mingles romanticism with realism, focusing on strong
curved lines, contours, and contrasted use of colour. Pastoral women and their dilemma is a
recurrent theme in his works. He mingles romanticism with realism, focusing on strong curved
lines, contours, and contrasted use of colour. Rural women and their dilemmas is another topic
Hassan has repeatedly produced. His handling of women highlight the relationship between
them, most of his paintings of women are of a group of women, hardly ever a solo painting can
be found.
Safiuddin Ahmed (1922-2012) is particularly known for his woodcut engraving. He was an urban
artist who divided his life in two cities — Kolkata (India) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). Though he
lived in the city, he shied away from the city’s chaotic life. City life was not attractive to him at
all. That is why his work has mainly focused on rural panorama, pastoral life, landscapes, floods
and other natural calamities as well as Santal life. Liberation War and Language Movement are
also recurring themes in his work. Black is the predominant shade in his both mediums--- prints
and paintings and the artist experimented with layers of this particular colour. Safiuddin Ahmed
graduated from the Government School of Art, Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1942. In his student
life, the artist learned many meticulous techniques and styles in printmaking – wood engraving,
etching and dry point in particular. Evidently, printmaking is one of the most arduous mediums,
which gave him a taste of tranquility, patience and devotion to his work. He always felt that his
student life was the main phase of his artistic growth, when he got the company of legendary
painters in West Bengal (Pacchim Bangla) in India. However, the artist migrated to Dhaka, after
the partition of British-India in 1947. Then he joined the newly founded Dacca Art College
(presently the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka).
Fishing, Safiuddin Ahmed, Brush and Ink, 1950
SM Sultan (1923-1994) delved deep into rural life, especially fishermen, peasants, labourers
and their simple lives. His works articulate the lives of the working class. His paintings mainly
focus on disadvantaged communities, but also highlight their power of unity and the struggle
for power. His paintings visually narrate stories of rural households, where men and women are
seen immersed in chores and farmers toiling in the fields. His figures are muscular and
powerful, denoting a sense of prosperity - a vision the artist had for rural Bengal. Sultan drew
male figures influenced by the European Renaissance tradition, while his women - buxom and
curvaceous - belong to the old Indian tradition. His drawings, such as his self-portrait, are
characterized by their economy and compactness. The lines are powerful and fully developed.
His early paintings were influenced by the Impressionists. In his oils he employed Van Gogh’s
impasto technique. His watercolors, predominantly landscapes, are bright and lively.
Mohammad Kibria (1929-2011), a significant name in enriching modernism in Bangladeshi Art.
He is considered an iconic figure in contemporary art, as he introduced modern paintings where
compositions, colours and forms are major features. He meticulously blended the essential
elements of his paintings. His paintings can be explained in many ways where one can find the
touch of mysticism; some can get the taste of harmony, melancholy or despair. His mode of
expression (in paintings) had been changed a number of times, but the painter successfully
established his personal trademark through all his creations. His style is unquestionably unique,
individualized and expressive. Kibria was known for his compositions and he worked in several
mediums, applying different techniques. His printmaking was very delicate, prolonged and
technique based. Emotions, yearnings, contemplation and liberty were aptly addressed through
his etchings and lithographs. He used minimization in his printmaking. Due to the influence of
his Japanese guru Hideo Hagiwara (in printmaking), Kibria’s etchings and lithographs reflect
elements of Japanese subtlety and technique.
Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan, Safiuddin Ahmed, SM Sultan and Mohammad Kibria are artists
who are identified as the first generation of modern artists of Bangladesh. The next generation
were basically direct students of Abedin, Hassan, Ahmed and Kibria at the Dhaka Art School
(now the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka).
It is mentionable that the first batch initiated of the Dhaka Art School in 1948 with some
students. The groups were very committed and most of them involved in left leaning parties.
They portrayed nature, urban life and surrounding atmosphere. During the time, Dhaka was a
tranquil city and it had lots of greenery places. Abedin especially stressed on drawing and he
successfully understood them about this genre of art and its various significant aspects. The
students also portrayed political chaos, economic crises, city life, rural life, still life and other
subjects. Some of them were greatly influenced by internationally acclaimed impressionist
painters. In 1950s, it was hardly being found students to study in Art College. The founding
members roved door to door for searching students. Fortunately, they got a bunch of students
and started second batch. In a similar pattern, they started third batch. Among the students of
first, second and third batches, Aminul Islam, Murtaja Baseer, Qayyum Chowdhury, Abdur
Razzaque, Debdas Chakraborty, Rashid Chowdhury, Mobinul Azim, Nurul Islam and Syed
Jahangir have excelled them as reputed painters. Most of them are treated as experimental
painters. They continuously dwelt on space, form and composition. Though the movement of
the sixties was heavily influenced by few internationally prominent Abstract Expressionists like
Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Franz Kline and Adolph Gottlieb, it paved the way towards
liberalization. Thus the present accomplishments of Bangladesh's art owes to the liberalization.
However, these artists of the three batches have their specialties that differ one from another:
Murtaja Baseer (1932 –2020) was a politically and socially conscious painter. In his student life,
he involved in left leaning politics. He was sent to jail several times in the '50s for his political
ideology. From the very beginning of his career, the artist was greatly influenced by the
paintings of Byzantine and Early-Renaissance period. He had received high praise for true
depiction of Bengali woman--her pathos, inner agony, magnificence and uniqueness. He
zoomed the portrait of the women of ultra modern society where artificiality and vulgarity
cautiously focused in his paintings. He was known as a resourceful genius. Throughout his
illustrious career, Baseer gradually transformed his working style into abstract realism.
Qayyum Chowdhury (1932 – 2014) is possibly well known for his book cover design. His works
delve deep into folk, pastoral life and traditions; the recurring motifs are birds, greenery,
flowers, fish, rural women carrying pitchers, peasants, freedom fighters, lush foliage and bulls.
His realistic and semi-realistic works on the Bangladeshi countryside were marked by his lucid
and personal technique. His excessive use of space provides grace to all his work that belongs to
this sensuous grade. Tactile, sharp and stirring colours give that depth and shape to his drawings
and paintings. The colors he generally used -- green, red, yellow and azure -- flow and merge
with passion.
Abdur Razzaque (1932–2005), during a long and chequered life, gradually transformed himself
into an abstract expressionist painter. His works were form and color-oriented and nature was a
recurring leitmotif in his works. His watercolors give us a serene and tranquil feeling which was
one of the hallmarks of his works. He always enjoyed creating new forms and shapes that
represented unfamiliar and unconventional facets.
Rashid Chowdhury (1932-1985) was the pioneer of tapestry in the country and definitely the
finest artist of this particular genre to date. He successfully introduced tapestry in various forms.
His works are unparalleled in their subjects and style. Blending of our tradition with modern
western art is the main characteristics of his works. The artist established his uniqueness -
particularly in terms of design and colour composition. The thickness of colors, geometric
compositions and aestheticism distinguish his works.
