A treasure of one hundred paintings by Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin (1914-1976) and Potua Quamrul Hassan (1921-1988) has been displayed at the Nalinikanta Bhattashali gallery of Bangladesh National Museum.
The special exhibition has been organised as part of the concluding programme of two-year long celebration of hundred years of the museum. The exhibition also marks the100th birth anniversary of Zainul Abedin and 93th birth anniversary of Quamrul Hassan.
Many of the paintings on display have never been showcased so far which have been preserved in the museum.
The fifty paintings by each of the master artists were a feast for the eyes of the visiting young art students, art aficionados and commoners.
The famous famine sketches painted during and after 1943 by Zainul Abedin, which earned him international fame, is among the displayed paintings.
The black ink sketch on paper portrays a desiccated body of a famine-struck man lying, with two crows perched on the body pecking for food; a similarly starved dog is also searching for food. The animals and the man symbolises the famine that struck the country.
Another masterpiece sketch of the master artist on display is Anusheelan (The Struggle). The sketch shows the struggles of life through a man trying to free a cart stuck in mud.
The sketch Jhar (Storm) is an arresting portraiture of powerful wind, where the master artist has brilliantly brought out the harsh effect simply by using charcoal on paper.
Apart from the aforesaid works done in monochromatic black, Zainul Abedin’s watercolour paintings are also on display. A watercolour depiction of ships anchored to a riverbank in the painting Khulna Bandar shows the master’s skill in using space and sense of proportion to make the painting a
lively one.
Another watercolour painting Tidal Bore Victims captures the agony of the tidal bore sufferers. Other works like Santal Paribar, Ramani O Kalosh, Harin, Krishak and many other famous works by master Zainul Abedin are on display at the exhibition.
Master artist Potua Quamrul Hassan’s works at the exhibition similarly attracts the visitors’ appreciation.
The famous Bangladesh-74 by Hassan, on display, is a woodcut print that depicts the hard time during the famine in 1974. Quamrul Hassan depicts the hardships and plight of the people through the portrayal of men, jackals, snakes and other animals cramped in a small space.
Most of the works by Hassan features the rural Bangladesh and its people. The artist’s series work titled Nababadhu (Bride) contains paintings in charcoal and in watercolour where Potua paints the feelings of a bride within the contours of her face.
The artist’s famous pastel on paper work Nabanna is also on display. The painting shows two rural women husking new rice. Another arresting work Ma O Shishu, done in ink and brush on tracing paper, illustrates a child sucking its mother’s breast and the mother looking affectionately at the child.
A watercolour portrait of Kazi Nazrul Islam by master Hassan shows the calm poise of the rebel poet.
Other famous works like Bagh, Patrapath, Hati, Parbatta Chattagram are also on display at the exhibition.
Visitors expressed their delight to have the chance to see the rare paintings of two master artists under one roof.
‘It is a grand exhibition, and a great opportunity for many to see the master painters’ works,’ said Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, the speaker of the parliament, who inaugurated the exhibition.
‘Many of us will be benefited from the exhibition,’ said Nazmul Hasan, a student of fine arts at Dhaka University.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Saturday and will be open for all from 10am to 7pm till January 18.
-With New Age input
