Page 405 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

402 ART AND CRAFTS

g. Abdur Razzaque
Nasima Haque Mitu

The main inspiration of artist Abdur Razzaque’s creations was the mystery of
nature, its variety, balance and discipline. Nature was his full-time teacher. He said
in a discussion that nature appeared before him as he embarked on each of his
works. 61 Therefore, his works display a mesmerized gaze, a sense of calmness,
balance and refinement.
In Bangladesh, the generation of people who got the opportunity for higher education
in the fifties and sixties made efforts to become completely modern human beings.
They tried to embrace spontaneous patriotism, secularism and a worldview within the
depth of their consciousness. Abdur Razzaque was an exemplary representative of this
generation. He was liberal, positive about life and was a believer in internationalism.
The people in the mainstream of society have changed to a large extent with the
passage of time, huge changes have transformed the beliefs and knowledge of the next
generation. However, Abdur Razzaque remained firm to his principles until the last
day of his life.
Abdur Razzaque was born on 5 November 1932 at the village of Digormohishkhali of
Bhedarganj police station under greater Faridpur district (presently under Shariatpur
district). His father was Sadar Ali Amin. He got his training as a surveyor from the
then Ahsanullah Surveying and Engineering School in Dhaka. His mother’s name was
Rizia Begum. Abdur Razzaque was the youngest of four brothers and two sisters.
He grew up in the village Digormohishkhali- his birthplace. He completed his
secondary and higher secondary education in 1947 and 1949 respectively from the
district town of Faridpur. He got his bachelors degree from the Institute of Fine Art,
Dhaka in 1954. He did his masters from Iowa State University in the USA in 1957.
fig. 9.35
Abdur Razzaque Abdur Razzaque was interested in painting from his childhood. During his school life,
he used to paint landscapes in watercolor. It is known that he filled up the pages of his
copies by drawing portraits of his physics and chemistry teachers. As his father was a
trained surveyor, they had mouja maps, surveying and drawing instruments in their
house. He had actually seen his father using these instruments in measuring land in the
village. These maps and drawing instruments created an interest in his young mind to
draw pictures.
Abdur Razzaque came to Dhaka to study engineering. But as he was more interested
in fine arts his elder brother took him to the Institute of Fine Art. Seeing the quality of
his drawing Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin admitted him to the Art Institute (1949).
Abdur Razzaque was a student of the second batch of Institute of Fine Art, Dhaka. He
got his bachelors degree in painting securing first position in the first class. After this,
he went to the United States winning the competitive Fulbright Scholarship. The