Page 409 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

406 ART AND CRAFTS

Inside (mixed media/print) at the same time in 1956. The light and shade in Inside had
gradually gone towards geometric form. Similarly, in 1972, he had done an open-air
sculpture titled Freedom Fighter and in 1973, he had done a lithograph titled
Composition-1 which is a non-representational print. Rather it can be said that the
language of art had changed in Abdur Razzaque’s works depending on the medium.
Line and tones became important when he worked in printmaking media like
etching, engraving or dry point. While doing lithographs he reduced emphasis on
forms and arranged the pictorial surface with light and shade and color. For example,
in the lithograph titled Composition-1 of 1973 black and white colors depict the
relation between two planes. His work in the acrylic medium titled Composition
follows the same mood. He did quite a number of works in the acrylic medium
during the later part of the seventies as again in the nineties. In the work titled
Composition – Red of 1976 the surface is covered with red color and beneath it one
can feel the presence of a color close to dark black. In some places, the black color
has reached the upper surface from within. On top of the red surface, there is a hint
of another rubbed surface using very little white color. Composition-6 of 1993 is
much simpler in composition. It is done by the flat use of blue, green, red, orange,
pink and white. Each color has its own style of brushwork and each one of them
gives the feeling of a separate plane. He used this pictorial language to its extreme
extent in his oil paintings.
It may be said that he had done abstract works in oil painting. During his higher
studies in America, he was in direct contact with abstract art of the west. Since the
Second World War Abstract Expressionism had become an influential trend in western
art and a new trend called Action Painting appeared. This movement was mainly
practiced in New York City of America. But Abdur Razzaque’s works were not
directly inspired by the philosophy of art of this period or by the works of artists of
this time. Rather, one can relate the abstraction of his works largely with the
abstraction of Cezanne. One can connect the abstraction of Razzaque with the abstract
trend that had commenced with the Post Impressionist efforts of Cezanne to reach the
substance of an object.
One can find the source of inspiration of the abstract work of Abdur Razzaque in the
titles of these works. The titles include names like Nature, Garden, Buriganga, River
View, Composition etc. His works started from nature and his interest in knowing life
through comprehending the ever-changing mystery of nature and giving them form
created his language of art. He said, ‘My works are constructed at a very slow pace. I
present the subject centering on color, form, line, shape and space. My works evolve
through various changes.’ 65 [Trans.] On this subject art critic Nazrul Islam says,
‘Razzaque’s paintings are created or rather they attain fulfillment through a process
which is like the balance of nature, the way the leaves and flowers of trees change their
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colors and forms and attain fulfillment.’ [Trans.] It is known that it took months and
sometimes even years for Abdur Razzaque to complete some of his paintings. He