Page 55 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

52 ART AND CRAFTS

conscious, he always wanted to impart symbols, meaning and messages through his
artwork. The nature and surroundings of this country fascinates him completely– as a
result, raw green, golden yellow and bright blue have a permanent place in his palette.
Later fiery red was added to this collection. Hashem Khan places his favorite
symbols– plate, fish, man who earns his living by labor, and later crows in large
numbers– in a slightly geometric and expressionist abstract composition. The crow or
bird with spread wings have become a unique sign of his paintings through its
powerful presence. Along with pure bright colors, he creates a gradation of light on his
canvas and a highlighted center. As a result, the glow of colors and the conflict of light
and shade gives his paintings a dramatic effect (pl.1.21).
Rafiqun Nabi (1943- ) started his journey in the sixties skilled in landscapes in
watercolor, especially river views. In his middle phase, he became more renowned for
book illustration and as a cartoonist. After receiving advanced training on printmaking
from Athens during the period of 1973-1976 on a scholarship of the government of
Greece, he is now recognized as one of the key printmakers of the country. However,
his experimental compositions in watercolors and pastels began right from the sixties.
In the early stages fish, life of fishermen, the fishing rod, fishing net, and river appealed
to him. He wanted to compose the subject combining the folk and geometrical forms.
However, systematic geometry and organized compositions are not his preference. He
builds up his pictorial surface with a variety of lines, scratches and strokes. At this
fig. 1.30 Rafiqun Nabi, stage, his colors are not radiant, they are rather melancholy grays and brown (fig.1.30).
The Crowing Cock, Rafiqun Nabi has chosen woodcut as his medium for printmaking and he has secured
mixed media, 1999 a unique place especially as a printmaker due to his large, colorful woodcuts.
In addition to the aforementioned artists, there were also quite a
few artists who have worked in the abstract or semi-abstract style
from the sixties. The majority of them chose oil painting as their
medium. Notable names among them are Pranesh Kumar
Mandal (1941- ), Delawar Hossain (1939- ), Abdul Matin (?),
Golam Sarwar (1940-1995), Mohammad Mohsin (1940- ),
Anwarul Huq Pearu (1944- ) and others. The names of two
female artists of this period, who drew attention at the beginning
of the sixties as creative artists, must be mentioned. They are
Rumi Islam (?) and Mohsena Ali (1928- ).
Limitation in the use of media during the sixties is quite evident.
Media for creating paintings apart from oil painting and
watercolor is almost absent. In case of printmaking, no
mentionable new artist appeared (Rafiqun Nabi appeared as a
print maker in the seventies). Safiuddin of the forties and Kibria
of the fifties were still the main artists as far as printmaking was
concerned. Anwar Jahan created a few significant sculptures
with burnt wood and with a combination of burnt wood and