Page 393 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

390 ART AND CRAFTS

(oil color) in 1958 and Nabanna-1 (oil
color) in 1959, this did not become a
permanent feature of his works (fig.
9.25). Rashid Choudhury perhaps felt a
mental closeness not with the actual
creation of Marc Chagall, but with his
source of inspiration- his love for his
motherland, the blending of memory
and the world of dreams. Rashid
Choudhury could possibly feel a mental
link with Chagall and it helped him
discover his own self. This became the
main inspiration of his later works
(since the time we can distinguish the
characteristics of his works).
After returning from Spain, he taught
in the Art Institute at Dhaka from 1958
to 1960. In 1960, he got the
postgraduate scholarship of the French
fig. 9.25 Nabanna-1, government and studied fresco, tapestry and sculpture in the Academy of Julian and
oil, 1959 Beaux Arts in Paris.
In an interview with the journal Nirantar, Rashid Choudhury said that before going to
Spain he had thought about selecting terracotta as his medium. In the class in Spain,
he was doing a portrait directly in oil without doing the drawing first. His teacher did
not approve of it. Nevertheless, he wanted to work the way he liked. Later on, his
teacher told him, ‘You are so proud of your skill in oil color but what is the medium
43
of your country?’ These words struck him. In Spain, he did only modeling for one
year. It is known from him that he had copied three works of Michealangelo in small
scale. He first saw the art of tapestry in Spain. After returning home, he noticed the
tradition of tapestry in our country and thought about taking it as his medium. Later
he went to Paris and took higher education in tapestry.
The second and the main catalyst in the change of the works of Rashid Choudhury was
his education in the tapestry medium. His tapestry teacher Jean Lurcat played a major
role in the change in his work. Lurcat said that he had started his career as an artist in
the Surrealistic trend. The main themes of his works were loneliness, hopelessness,
emptiness etc. ‘I did not want it so, but the war had graven a track into my hand. Oil
painting is too suave; not enough resistance. The raggedness of wool gave me joy-
liberation.’ 44 In 1937, Lurcat had seen the fourteenth century tapestry Apocalypse at
Angers and his thoughts on art went through a complete change. The power of
roughness of the tapestry medium had given him a sense of freedom and at the same
time the subject of the apocalypse had made him conscious about ancient traditions.