Page 54 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

PAINTING 51

country was abstraction or semi-abstraction. Oil painting was the only medium of
creative painting. There was virtually no practice of sculpture and printmaking, even
if there was, its extent was very limited. In the sixties, all the leading artists of the
fifties, apart from a few, turned to pure abstract style and the practice of art became
merely creating an abstract composition on the pictorial surface. Instead of subject and
message, proficiency in the medium and cleverness of the composition became more
of a consideration for the artists. Most of the artists became engaged in following the
various abstract styles of their previous counterparts and a few special types of
abstraction developed. Nevertheless, some artists created paintings in semi-abstract
style with indigenous subjects and in indigenous contexts; some of the artists display
attempts to integrate various traditional motifs. However, visually pleasing
compositions of the pictorial surface remained the main concern. Though the artists of
the fifties remained as the major artists, a number of artists from the sixties attracted
attention by displaying original qualities and characteristics.
Among the artists working in the abstract trend emerging during the fifties, the first
to be distinguished is Abu Taher (1936- ). Though he is an artist of the Abstract
Expressionistic style, Abu Taher developed gradually, moving towards his
objective step by step. However, his partiality towards oil painting and putting on
heavy coats of paint was apparent from the beginning. The tendency of making
emotions more intense by creating textures, scratches or wound like textures in
high relief is also a characteristic of his. To this end, he mixed sand, sawdust etc.
with his painting materials. His paintings display an explosion of colors and
gradually they became compositions of colors and space only. In creating his
paintings, Abu Taher partially turns to the spontaneous and powerful wielding of
the brush, and sometimes he composes very slowly and with meticulous
concentration. However, his nervous colors, swollen wound like texture of the
picture plane and dramatic mood of conflict represent the pull of a powerful and
intense emotion (pl.1.19).
Though Samarjit Roy Choudhury (1937-) was mainly an artist of graphic
design, he has composed paintings for many years in oil painting, gouache,
watercolor and in other mixed media. He creates a decorative representation on
the pictorial plane using elements and motifs of nature and rural life of
Bangladesh. Birds, fishes, kites, traditional decoration with three-cornered
pieces of paper– these are his favorite subjects. His colors are pleasant and
delicate and transparent in quality.
Another artist of the sixties, Hashem Khan (1941-), also became well known in the
area of graphic design, particularly in book publication, designing book covers and
illustration. However, he is also one of the key painters of the sixties. Though, at first
he drew attention as a skilled artist of landscape painting in watercolor, later Hashem
Khan mainly used oil painting as his medium. Being politically and socially