Page 392 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

SECOND GENERATION ARTISTS 389

The partition of nineteen forty-seven
had led an almost unprepared populace
(Bengali speaking Muslims) to try to
discover anew their entire identity.
They had to uphold the language and
culture besides facing the crisis of
identity within a divided political
boundary and at the same time having
to establish communications with the
outside world. All these led to a
continuous process of trying to do
something new from 1947 to the time
of the independence of Bangladesh.
The first generation artists of this
country tried to get their inspiration
from folk culture and life to discover a
new identity with the birth of a new
country. However, formally they
remained loyal to the western
academic style. Therefore, their works depicted the conflict between western style and fig. 9.24 Collecting
folk art on one side and folk life and contemporaneity on the other. Shells, oil, 1951
This background of the initial phase of the art world of Bangladesh played a major role
in the formation of the artistic spirit of Rashid Choudhury. He finished his art
education from Dhaka in 1954. His work during his student life was fully academic.
Collecting Shells – the oil painting he had done in 1951 shows the blue color of the
sky mingling in the sea. A horizontal line separates the seashore in the foreground
where three figures have created a triangle (fig. 9.24). The use of color and the
composition follow the western academic style. The pictorial division of the canvas in
this painting is similar to the watercolor on board by Zainul Abedin in 1951 titled
Waiting by the Brahmaputra for Ferry.
In 1957, a change is notable in the works of Rashid Choudhury. This happened in the
one year when he was in Madrid for higher studies under the postgraduate scholarship
program of the Spanish government from 1956-57. A subtle influence of sculptural
training is evident in his paintings of 1957. In two paintings of this year, titled Sitting
Woman and Three Women, the figures have been presented as solid forms instead of
using realistic light and shade. The figures are presented against the background
surface of the canvas and they have created a single shape over the entire surface. At
that time, he was introduced directly with the works of European artists and his ideas
went through some changes. Perhaps, the works of Marc Chagall worked as a catalyst
in bringing about the changes in him. He has spoken about this artist time and again in
various discussions. Although the direct influence of Marc Chagall is evident in Goat