Page 408 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

SECOND GENERATION ARTISTS 405

Wiseghat (1953), Swarighat, Dhaka (1950) etc. He had worked on rivers and boats
until the nineties. The differences of nature in different places have been presented
with their unique characters in his watercolors through his view and composition.
Teknaf, Istanbul, Jaflong are examples of such works. Another aspect of his
watercolors that may be discussed is the social and cultural reality of different places.
Such works include Cock Fight, Thatari Bazar (1959), Boat Building – Sadarghat
(1951), Jatra – Rayer Bazaar (1972), Bamboo Market – Gopibagh (1953) and some
of his works on the construction works at Motijheel.
Seeing these works of Abdur Razzaque one may conclude that he dedicated himself to
visible nature rather than philosophical or psychological questions on the changes
brought about by time. Perhaps this was an effort at reconciliation with the change in
time. His compositions of watercolors encompass the entire surface. In his landscapes,
working class people have a major role. His use of color is realistic. He did not leave
any space in his composition; rather he has used visual perspective up to an extent. For
example, in both the works titled Fishing Boat (watercolor – 1974) by Zainul Abedin
and Boat, Buriganga (watercolor – 1953) by Abdur Razzaque our eyes tend to move
from left to right. Zainul had used suggestive lines and colors to fuse boats with the
riverbank and sky with water in the horizon, while Razzaque drew the details of the
riverside and drew the horizon in realistic perspective. The use of space by Zainul
depicted the vastness of nature while the space of Razzaque achieved completeness in
the details of life.
On the other hand, when he painted Buriganga in mixed media after a long time in
1991 we find the presence of some expressive lines and in 1992 in oil, it becomes
visible as a presentation of some colors without any sign of forms. He had
comprehended reality well and with this comprehension, he had entered the world of fig. 9.38 Self-Portrait 3,
abstraction. One of the tendencies of the practice of abstract art in Bangladesh is to engraving, 1956
comprehend reality and to reach abstraction through various
experimentations within the academic style. But in Abdur Razzaque’s
works one can ultimately find the conflict of the visible world and the
mental world. The conflict in the boundless attraction for visible nature
and the mental analysis of modern art surfaced as characters of his
works through his own language of art.
It can be said in gross terms that his works until 1957 may be included
in the academic trend and even his drawings and prints done when he
was studying for his master’s degree present visible reality. Whenever
he worked in a medium, he tried to use the character of the material of
the medium with extreme skill. It should be remembered that we may
make mistakes in understanding his works if we try to assess the
characteristics of his works by using time lines. Because, it cannot be
said that he had gone into abstraction from realistic works after a certain
time. He had done works like Self-portrait-3 (engraving) (fig. 9.38) and