Page 52 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

PAINTING 49

The subjects of Kazi Abdul Baset’s paintings from the early stage were various
aspects of rural life, especially a single female figure (pl. 1.16) or pair of female
figures. He has accepted the impassioned colors of Impressionism, he has taken
geometric structures from Cubism, though all these were adapted to give expression
to his own romanticism and lyricism. In this phase, his use of colors showed a
delicate and poetic effect and his forms displayed the influence of wooden dolls and
shola (pith) folk art forms. After returning from abroad in 1964, Abdul Baset started
painting in the abstract style. His work gradually progressed towards creating a
universal form of nature by erasing all the apparent signs of reality. His shapes
contain an architectural characteristic and the shapes create between them a
relationship of horizontal and vertical contradiction. His colors, however, remain
quiet, delicate and soft. Abdul Baset’s paintings create in our consciousness
tenderness and poetic expression.
Along with the key artists of the fifties, Nitun Kundu, Kazi Abdur Rouf, Syed
Shafiqul Hussain, Shahtab (1936-), Mubinul Azim, Shamsul Islam Nizami (1937-
2004) and many others were involved in regular creative practice. Nitun Kundu
executed oil paintings, prints and sculptures. Though he was famous mainly for his
sculptures done in the method of metal casting and welding, Nitun Kundu was also
proficient in the realms of painting (fig. 1.29 ) and printmaking. Kazi Abdur Rouf,
who passed away untimely, illustrated the calm and serene rural life in a semi-
Cubist style. His painting is driven by emotion, sensuous and pleasing to the eyes.
Syed Shafiqul Hussain has worked in the abstract style, his paintings are
characterized by surface patterns of interpenetrating spherical geometric forms and
the use of bright primary colors. Shahtab participated in important exhibitions right
from the fifties and attracted attention in the sixties as a sensitive artist. Calm,
subtle and a bit sorrowful representation of boats and rivers in a simplified
geometrical form is typical of his paintings. Shamsul Islam Nizami has constantly
worked in both oil painting and pottery. His painting is in the purely abstract style,
mainly a composition of colors, textures and shades. By applying a coating of light
colors over a background of dark color the radiance of the color that lies under
shines through (pl. 1.18). Mustafa Monwar of the fifties is a skilled television and
stage director and the initiator of puppetry in this country. Apart from that, he has
also displayed original talent in stage decoration and costume design and many
other applied arts. Mir Mustafa Ali (1932- ) played a pioneering role in ceramics
in our country. Zunabul Islam and Imdad Hossain did so in batik print and cottage
industry respectively.
At various stages during the fifties artists’ associations and art collections
contributed to art practice and the organization of artistic movements in the former
East Pakistan. The importance of these is relevant due to historical reasons. Though
there are many such organizations and institutions at present, the contribution of
‘Dhaka Art Group’ founded in 1950 right at the very beginning amidst totally