Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

Introduction

The arts and crafts of Bangladesh have a position of great importance in the
understanding of the heart of its culture. The arts are the unbroken link of the present
to the distant past. This book includes a wide variety of artistic expressions with the
aim of presenting a complete picture of Bangladesh art. Particular emphases has been
placed on traditions that bear the distinctive characteristics of this country as they
represent the way of life, hopes and aspirations of the people as well as the way that
this civilization has developed.
The art of Bangladesh may be divided into two streams, the folk and the ‘high’. These
two separate streams control the total cultural sphere of this country. According to
Heinz Mode, ‘A completely illogical standard has been imposed to consider the art of
the palace and the temples as high art and separate it from the folk arts. Yet the culture
which is intimately connected with the daily life of the people has been rejected as
common and low-class art. As a result, accepting the class and racial differences in
society, art too was evaluated by the same standard.’ [Trans.]
1
Folk culture has evolved through the ages and successive generations in a rural
environment in an almost spontaneous way, without state patronization. Though it is
rooted in the agricultural society of the past, it is also subject to change. Rural culture
may again be divided into two streams. One stream is deeply connected to the all
Indian and primarily Brahmanic or Islamic culture. The source and development of the
other stream has much less outside influence. It is primarily the culture of the
ancestors of the non-Sanskrit language based peoples who were the originators of this
culture in their own homeland ages before the arrival of Brahmanic culture. A part of
this divided folk culture lies within aesthetic activity, the examples of which are seen
in the sculptures, masks, paintings, pata, decoration and utensils, the elements for
puja, utility implements, furniture etc. which are associated with the beautification of
objects and dwellings. The concerned artists are common people skilled from
generation to generation in the rural tradition, but they are not trained within the
regulations of an influential school or style. ‘However when the rural artist … creates
2
art upon being educated in a special technique or style through the patronage of high
class people for their use or the use of the common people, or had created such till the
mediaeval age, it can be categorized as so-called “high” art created and nourished by
the “higher classes.”’ [Trans.]
3
1. Heinz Mode, “Lokasanskritir Shwarup O Banglar Lokshilpa”, Lokasruti, Volume Twelve, Falgun 1402
(Bengali year), Kolkata, 9.
2. Bratindranath Mukhopadhyaya, Lokshilpa Banm “Uchha” Margiya Shilpa Prak-Gupta Banger
Prekshpate, (Calcutta 99), 2-3.
3. Ibid., 3.

1



PAINTING
a. Ancient and Mediaeval Age
Faizul Azim


The art of painting has been practiced in Bengal from ancient times. Fine arts were
practiced in various media and different methods in this region from the ancient
historical period according to the beliefs, tastes and demands of the patrons of art.
The evolution and rise and fall of the artistic styles were generally related to the
prosperity or impoverishment of the condition of their main patrons as religious,
social and political forces.
According to the tradition of Bengal, or for that matter, of ancient India, painters were
called patikar, patidar, patua or poto, etc. The earliest mention of the patua can be
found in ancient Sanskrit literature in the 6th century BC. Avijnyan Shakuntala,
Malabikagnimitram, Mudraraksasha and other books provide extensive descriptions
of the patuas. In Buddhist and Jaina literature painters were called Shaubhik or
Shaubhanik. In the 4th century BC in the Ashtaddhayi of Panini there is mention of
the royal artist and village artist, in other words, court artists and folk artists. In India
throughout the ages, under Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim or English rule, change in the
characteristics of art was related to the rise and fall of the forces connected with it. 1
Geographical and Historical Background
Human civilization originated and developed in the Indus valley in India about twenty
seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. It is prevalently held that this
civilization ended in approximately 1700 BC. It is to be mentioned that it was around
this time that the Aryans began to arrive in India. During the next thousand years,
slowly the Indian culture took its own particular form through conflict and integration
between the Aryan culture coming from outside and the local Austric and Dravidian
culture. This variegated group of people created diversity in the society, language,
culture and artistic consciousness of Indian civilization.
Bangladesh is the largest delta in the world. The situation of powerful rivers like the
Ganges, Meghna, Brahmaputra decided the nature of the landforms of this region. The
furious, violently destructive form of the rivers and the endless supply of fertile silt
control the environment of this area and the fortunes of the people living here.
Bengal’s fertile land, temperate climate and the tales of its wealth and treasures spread
everywhere and inspired people from ancient times to come from outside and settle and

2 ART AND CRAFTS


live here permanently. The indigenous peoples of this area are known to be the non-
Aryan peoples the Kohls, Sabaras, Chandalas, etc. Judged as a linguistic group they
are called ‘austric’. Gradually the minority coming from outside established control
over the greater non-Aryan ethnic groups through the influence of their higher culture.
The world was first acquainted with the name Bengala from the tales of the journey
of the traveller Marco Polo. But the historical identity of Bengal can be established
through authentic written documents from the 4th century BC. In approximately 300
BC. Pundravardhana was annexed to the Maurya Empire. This can be decided in the
light of the archaeological evidence discovered in Pundranagar of Mahasthan near
Bogra of Bangladesh. From various inscriptions found here the establishment of
Buddhism in this area is evident. From a later period the terracotta plaques discovered
in Mahasthan and Chandraketugarh made during the reign of the Hindu Sunga dynasty
(183 BC-71 BC) the effort to integrate the art of both cultures is noticeable. Before the
rise of the Gupta empire (320 AD-540 AD) the history of Bengal was the history of
the local feudal kings fighting with one another. In 400 AD during the reign of
Samudra Gupta the whole of Bengal except Samatata was annexed to the Gupta
Empire. In the reign of Chandra Gupta the Second, Indian civilization and culture
assumed its classic form. Sanskrit literature, music, drama, astrology, and the fine arts
achieved a kind of perfection. In the middle of the 6th century the Gupta Empire began
to decline and taking advantage of the situation two independent kingdoms originated
in Bengal. One was the Kingdom of Vanga (south-east Bengal and the southern region
of West Bengal) and the other was Gauda (West and North Bengal). Later in the early
7th century a powerful king named Sasanka rose to prominence in Bengal. The period
after the death of Sasanka upto the establishment of the Pala dynasty (750 AD-1162
AD) in the mid-8th century is commonly known as the ‘matsanyaya yuga’ due to a
situation of extreme anarchy prevailing in Bengal. After the rise of the Pala dynasty in
the 8th century Bengal and the Bengalis could establish themselves as a political,
economic, military and cultural force in the following five hundred years. It was
mainly through the establishment of the Pala dynasty in the middle of the 8th century
that the socio-economic and cultural rise of Bengal and the Bengalis was initiated.
This dynasty was established in Bengal for a period of more than four hundred years.
The influential kings of this dynasty raised Bangladesh to a distinguished status in
North and South India in the fields of religion, education and culture in the Indian and
international Buddhist world. 2
Although king Gopala was the founder of the Pala dynasty, his son Dharmapala (770
AD-810 AD) consolidated it placing it on a firm foundation. This dynasty which
believed in Buddhism built many institutions in their kingdom with the aim of
spreading the message and teachings of Buddhism. The establishment of the famous
Vikramasila Vihara of Bihar and the very large Somapura Mahavihara of the
Varendra region, which later earned fame as the Paharpur Vihara, was the
achievement of Dharmapala. Huge Buddhist Viharas were built in Mainamati with
3

PAINTING 3


the patronage of the effectively independent local Buddhist kings of the Deva dynasty.
These great religious and educational centers played an important role primarily in the
culture and flourishment of fine arts.
Taking cue from the decline of the political forces of the pre-Pala Gupta age the effort
to revive the local artistic styles in different areas of Bengal is to be noticed. It is
probable that quite a few centers of art appeared for the first time in South-East Bengal
in comparison to West or North Bengal. Specimens of this can be seen in Mainamati
of Comilla and Jhewari of Chittagong. Although these two centers followed the artistic
style of the last stages of the Gupta age, yet here the artists were able to achieve a
distinctiveness of their own through local inspiration.
The Pala kings gradually departed from power as the rulers of Bengal with the loud
presence in North-East India of the Muslim Turkish military leaders in the
background and the rule of Bengal went into the hands of the Hindu royal dynasties
from the Buddhist kings. Ultimately, towards the end of the eleventh century the Sena
dynasty, which came from South-India, assumed power in Bengal. Although
Vijayasena (1097 AD-1160 AD) was the founder of this dynasty, his son Vallalasena
(1160 AD-1179 AD) gave Brahmanism a firm foundation in this region.
Laksmanasena (1179 AD-1206 AD) played a considerable role in the dissemination
of Sanskrit education in Bengal. The famous book of poems Gitagovindam by the
poet Jayadeva is a composition of this period, and it had a strong influence on the
cultural life of the people of this region. After Laksmanasena’a capital Gauda was
occupied by the invading Turkish military leader Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin
Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1203 AD Hindu rule ended in north western Bengal and Muslim
rule was established in Bengal.
With the establishment of Muslim rule in Bengal a different dimension was added to
its art and culture. Though local culture was affected at the early stages of Muslim
rule, later due to the tolerance of the rulers, a new consciousness was infused into it.
Although the Turkish Sultans of Bengal were considered to be under the central rule
of Delhi from 1200 AD to 1340 AD, actually they were politically and economically
quite self-sufficient. There is a dearth of specimens of art worth mentioning from this
early stage of Muslim rule in Bengal. But in the times of Ilyas Shah (1342 AD-1358
AD) the independent ruler of the whole of Bengal, there was born a separate stream
of ‘Indo-Muslim’ architectural style where the local artists and craftsmen who
participated in the construction work found the opportunity to demonstrate within the
Muslim architectural style the excellence of their own traditional craftsmanship. The
Adina Mosque built by Ilyas Shah’s son Sikandar Shah (1358 AD-1390 AD) is
considered to be the symbol of the expansion of Muslim religion and culture in
Bengal. Later during the reign of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah (1415 AD-1433
AD) for the first time, glazed-tile ornamentation is noticed in the architecture of
Bengal. After Jalaluddin, Alauddin Husain Shah (1493-1519 AD) patronized Sanskrit
literature at the national level along with the diffusion of Muslim education. He

4 ART AND CRAFTS


employed many members of the Hindu community to important posts in the
government; but the most important religious event in his time was the advent of Sri
Chaitanya Dev (1486-1533 AD). Nusrat Shah (1519-1532 AD), the son of Husain
Shah was a devoted patron of Bengali literature. 4
The tradition that began in Bengal during Husain Shahi rule of integrating Muslim and
Hindu culture was in general infused with greater dynamic movement at a later period
after the establishment of the Mughal Empire in Delhi, especially during the reign of
the Emperor Akbar (1556-1605 AD). Religious tolerance was then adopted as the
political principle of the center. Along with bringing renowned artists from Persia, the
Mughal emperors employed local artists extensively in the creation of art works. After
Bengal became a part of the Mughal Empire in 1575 AD the opportunity for the style
of Mughal architecture and ornamentation to enter Bengal presented itself. Although
Bengal was an important part of the huge Mughal Empire, yet no extensive influence
of the central Mughal artistic style is perceivable here. Probably the remote and
inaccessible situation of Bengal from the center and the strong foundation of the local
culture somewhat hampered the expansion of Mughal art in Bengal.
Basically Bengali life and culture is firmly imbedded in the firm soil of its folk life.
Through the medium of Chaitanya Dev’s spiritual and mystic religious awakening in
the Sultani period, there developed an individual style of Hindu architecture decorated
with terracotta sculpture. Parallel to this and quite prevalent was another tradition of
painted wooden book-covers of illustrated manuscripts. This method of painting
played a role as the connecting bridge between the manuscript illustration of the
previous Pala age and the paintings by the patuas of the villages of Bengal. However,
due to the influence of the Europeans coming to India at the beginning of the
seventeenth century a new pictorial style emerged in the court art of Bengal. By the
nineteenth century this novel pictorial form had extensively influenced the subject-
matter and method of the painting of Bengal.
On the other hand, the capital of the province of Bengal was transferred to
Murshidabad in the eighteenth century. Although at that time the decline of Delhi’s
central rule had already begun, provincial rule was established here under the
leadership of Murshid Quli Khan (1717-1727 AD). Though there is no important
example of the patronization of art during Murshid Quli’s era, in the middle of the
18th century during the reign of Alivardi Khan (1740-1756 AD) a group of artists
coming from the royal court of Delhi was given shelter in Murshidabad. Through
these artists a regional Mughal artistic style found expression in Murshidabad. In the
meantime, the city of Kolkata rose as a competitor of Murshidabad through the
English traders. After Alivardi’s daughter’s son Sirajuddowla (1756-1757 AD) was
defeated in the Battle of Plassey against the English, colonial rule by the English was
established in Bengal or, in other words, in India. After this the center of the painting
of Bengal evolved around Kolkata, the metropolis and colonial capital of the English.
As a nation state the state boundaries of Bengal changed again in various ages. In 1947

PAINTING 5


through the partition of India, East and West Pakistan were established and in the year
1971 Bangladesh was born. As a result, in the quest for the painting tradition of
Bangladesh, or at the same instance, its culture and heritage the unity centered on the
language of the people of this region is very important. Therefore, in the discussion of
the paintings of Bangladesh, Bengal denotes the area of Eastern India or South Asia
where the language of the majority of the people is Bengali.
It is very difficult to date the antiquity of Bengal’s art of painting. This is because
notable examples of ancient paintings of this region are rarely found. The weather,
climate and the impermanence of the art media are some causes responsible for this.
As a result it has not been possible to decide exactly when the painting of Bengal
originated. From the specimens of art works found, no painting has been identified
in palm leaf, wood, parchment or cloth from before the 10th century. Actually, the
5
earliest specimens of painting of Bengal are the religious miniatures of the Buddhist
Viharas of the Pala age (750-1162 AD). In approximately 983 AD during the reign
of the Pala king Mahipala I, 12 colored Buddhist paintings were executed in the
palm leaf manuscript of the Ashtasahasrika-Prajnaparamita, in the Nalanda
Mahavihara. Judging from the style of paintings, these pictures belong to the same
6
group as the best examples of Indian classical art, the wall paintings of Ajanta.
Contextually it is presumed that these are not the primary instances of the art of
painting of Bengal and that the tradition of the art of painting had been in existence
from earlier times. It may be mentioned that it was during the rule of the Pala kings
that there originated and developed the Bengali national entity as a political force in
India. The painting of Bengal of the pre-Pala age may be considered as unknown or fig. 1.1
forgotten to history. Although no specimen of painting worth the mention can be Two potsherds found at
found from that chapter, productions of many different associated arts like the Pandurajar Dhibi
ornamentation of clay vessels found as archaeological specimens provide an indirect
idea of the paintings of those times.

The Pre-Pala Period
The most ancient evidence of human civilization in Bengal has been discovered in the
Pandurajar Dhibi in Burdwan district of West Bengal. Here household utensils have
been found of a type used by a people similar to the Harappan civilization. The most
ancient specimens of the painting of the people of Bengal are the various designs
drawn on pottery found at Pandurajar Dhibi. These designs mainly record the
particulars of the pottery artists’ pictorial skills. But in this context special mention
should be made of some black ware on the surface of which are line drawings incised
in white. On one fragment there is a drawing of a row of fishes at the edge of a pattern
similar to a fishing net, in another fragment there is represented a snake-like animal
held in the beak of a peacock (fig.1.1). 7

6 ART AND CRAFTS


In the Bengal region the habitation of Paleolithic man is to be found in
Bankura, Purulia and some places in Midnapore. Therefore, there is a
8
possibility of finding the earliest specimens of pictorial art in these areas.
However, due to the dearth of hills in the landform of Bengal it is very
difficult to find specimens of cave paintings of stone age man. Yet in 1982
at the place named Laljal in Jhadgram in the Midnapore district there has
been discovered a small cave habitation of new stone age man. On the
wall at the back of this cave, evidence of some faint paintings can be
found. Painting of the bull is to be seen here in light reddish hues. They
9
are like other cave paintings of the new stone age. Due to the weather and
other natural causes, these paintings have become very faint.
Ornamented pottery has been found in the rural habitation of the
Chalcolithic age discovered on the bank of the Ajay-Damodar River of
Birbhum and Burdwan districts. Here the pottery is decorated with
geometric designs of various types drawn with whitish color over a layer
of black or red. During the last stages of the Chalcolithic age a profusion
fig. 1.2 Terracotta figure, of decorated pottery was introduced in Bengal. The pottery found in Pandurajar Dhibi
Mahasthangarh, 2nd was made during this period. Geometric designs can be seen in the Chalcolithic
century BC pottery of Bengal. In these designs straight and curved lines of various types, net
patterns, triangles, the swastika and the sun or leaf patterns are noticeable. In some
pottery found in the Pandurajar Dhibi line drawings of fish or birds are also
represented as well as abstract and semiabstract designs. Though the spontaneity of
the painters is noticeable in the style of these pictures, judged comparatively, the
quality cannot be considered to be of the same standard as the ornamented pottery of
the Indus valley of the same type. The ornamentation of the pottery found in Indus is
much more well-ordered and well composed. In the pottery of Bengal of this period,
the absence of the human figure is to be especially noted. Yet in the ornamentation of
western India of the same stage, the human figure is already present.
Just as the history of Bangladesh is indistinct before the Maurya-Sunga stage, likewise
it is difficult to know about the fine arts of that age, especially about the nature and
particulars of painting. Through the terracotta plaques done in low relief discovered
from those times it is possible to get an indirect notion of the artistic skills of the
painters of those times. For instance, the small terracotta plaques from the Sunga age
found in Mahasthangarh and Chandraketugarh is mentionable in this context (fig.1.2).
Other than this there has also been found plaques dating from the last stage of the
Gupta age in Palashbari and Sharalpur of the same Mahasthan region and in some
other places also.
As these terracotta plaques of apparently two-dimensional characteristics were used
for architectural ornamentations, a kind of natural pictorial quality can be noticed in
them. Birds and animals, men and women, imaginary tales and legends, the Ramayana
and Mahabharata were depicted in these plaques. Compared to those of the Gupta

PAINTING 7


period, the Sunga plaques show over-ornamentation. For instance, the Sunga artist
tried to express the beauty of woman through ornaments, hair arrangements, etc.,
whereas the Gupta artist placed more emphasis on the depiction of physical structure,
movement and expression instead of external ornamentation.
Therefore, although particulars about the common pictorial media cannot be found
from the pre-Pala age the above mentioned plaques provide us with an approximation
about the nature of the unknown paintings. In this context it needs to be mentioned
that traditional Indian art was primarily ‘cooperative art’ which means that art works
were constructed through collective labor. As a result, in paintings, sculptures,
architectural constructions and other auxiliary artistic production an intimate relation
was present between the artists involved and in many cases the same artist is
considered to have been involved in various media. Therefore, it can be supposed that,
some of the artists of the above mentioned terracotta plaques that have been found in
Bengal were at the same time the artists of the other common pictorial media.
The Pala Style
The history of Bengal’s art of painting was inaugurated in the Pala period. The fig. 1.3 Pala manuscript
painting after Arts of
Buddhist miniatures drawn on palm leaf manuscripts and their wooden covers in this India 1550-1900,
period are excellent specimens of this art of painting. Most of the illustrated Victoria, and Albert
manuscripts of the Pala age were copies of the book Ashtashahasrika Prajnaparamita Museum, 1990

8 ART AND CRAFTS


belonging to the school of Mahayana Buddhism. Besides this, illustrated specimens
of Pancharaksha, Karandavyuha, Kalachakrayana, etc. books of the Vajrayana form
were also found. Prepared as a part of religious practice, this manuscript painting
method is known in the history of Indian art as Pala painting or alternatively as the
Eastern Indian style.
According to the renowned Tibetan historian Lama Taranatha’s account this pictorial
style was introduced in the times of Dharmapala Deva and Devpala Deva, in the first
10
part of the ninth century AD. Although no specimen of any painting of that period
has yet been discovered, however, an abundance of specimens of these paintings from
the end of the tenth century have been found. Later on in the middle of the fifteenth
century, that is even during the early stages of Muslim rule in Bengal this style of
manuscript painting continued. However, at this last stage the beauty of previous Pala
painting had degenerated to a great measure. It can be supposed from the scanty
evidence of these paintings from a later period that after the establishment of Muslim
dominance, this ancient style of painting had begun to degenerate. But probably it
cannot be said that it had become completely extinct. The birth of the Murshidabad
style of painting later in the eighteenth century supports this notion.
The manuscript painting (fig.1.3) of the Pala Age was painted on specially processed
palm leaves and wooden boards were used as their covers. The size of the painted
sections were generally 6cm x 7cm, on each page there were five to seven lines of
writing and generally three pictures. In these paintings executed in the gouache
medium the white, yellow, blue, red, black and green colors were used. When writing
the text of the manuscript blank spaces were probably left for the paintings. After the
writing of the manuscript was finished the painter filled the blank spaces with
paintings. However, there was very little similarity between the painted pictures and
the subject of the writings on the puthi. Primarily the figures of the Buddha and other
Buddhist gods and goddesses were painted on the manuscripts to impart a divine
character to the manuscript, not for illustrating the written statements in the text. Yet in
Persian miniatures or western miniatures of the middle ages or in the other miniature
traditions the subject matter of the paintings were an aid to the text of the books.
Pala manuscript paintings established the age of miniatures or ‘anuchitra’ in India.
But in the context of the method or characteristics of these paintings some
dissimilarities need to be mentioned. Though they are miniatures, yet some qualities
of the miniature are absent from these paintings. These paintings follow the tradition
of wall paintings of a previous age and in appearance look as if they are small sized
wall paintings. Actually, it is not proper to call Pala paintings miniatures in the real
11
sense. As the viewer has to see the miniature from up close, the carefully detailed
execution of the subject-matter in the painting is very important. In the European
miniature paintings of the middle ages, the traditional miniatures of Persia or Arabia,
the above-mentioned characteristic of very fine to yet finer drawing and
ornamentation is completely absent in the Pala paintings. In reality, though small in

PAINTING 9


size these paintings display the expansiveness and qualities of wall paintings. These
paintings can also justifiably be called tiny wall paintings. Consequently, it has been
supposed that the artists of Pala paintings were probably also the artists of wall
paintings or painters in both the media.
The pictorial style of Bengal’s Pala manuscript paintings was probably directly inspired
by the classical pictorial tradition of the wall painting of the Gupta Age. Taking the
12
cue from this statement it is required that the judgment and analysis of the method and
style of Pala painting should be based on the background of pre-Pala Indian fine arts.
In India the development of the art of painting and sculpture reached its finest stage in
the Gupta Age (320-575 AD). This period is renowned as the Classical Age in the
history of Indian art and civilization. In the field of painting the mural paintings of
Ajanta are the best examples of this age. However, in the classical artistic ideal the
presence of two different parallel pictorial ideals can be seen. Firstly, in the modeling
oriented method with the use of different shades of colors and lines of different
thickness the primary objective was creating a completely rounded image, this is well-
known as the ‘classical’ type. In the other method, clear and sharp lines were used
especially with the absence of modeling in application of color and is known as the
‘mediaeval’ type. This second method of painting developed in the western Indian
Jaina manuscripts. In the discussion of the evolution of Indian art the influence of the
two above-mentioned styles of painting are especially important. The discussion of
Pala painting too is considered within this context.
Pala painting originated at the beginning of the ninth century AD and the early stage
lasted for nearly two hundred years, till the end of the tenth century. However, there are
no extant examples of paintings of this initial stage. It is, however, possible to form a
notion about this unknown style of painting in the light of the sculptures executed
during that period. The sculptural art of the Pala era developed following the ideals of
the classical sculptural idiom of the Gupta age. Consequently, in the initial stages of
Pala painting it seems that it was the western Indian classical style of Ajanta that was
followed. Moreover, although manuscript paintings are examples of Pala paintings, in
the recent past examples of mural paintings of the Pala age have been discovered. In a
ruined Buddhist temple of Nalanda, paintings in many different colors nearly destroyed
by the ravages of time are observable. ‘Yet from what can be seen of the faint paintings,
it can undoubtedly be said that, these mural paintings and the manuscript paintings of
the Pala era are expressions of the same style.’ [Trans.]
13
Formally, Pala painting is primarily linear and ornamental. It should be mentioned that
in mediaeval Indian painting linear ornamentation was the prominent feature. On the
other hand, although lines have been used in Indian classical art, the primary intention
behind this was the creation of modeling. However, though the foundation of Pala
painting is based on linear representation yet it never became ornamental in character.
For it is to be noticed that, with the intention of expressing reality and weight of
objects the artists in most cases made the lines thick, thin or faint through applying the

10 ART AND CRAFTS


required pressure had tried to created a kind of three-dimensional character. Not only
was the effort made to create modeling through the use of lyrical and dynamic lines,
in many cases the use of the white color is also noticed on the brightest parts of the
forms depicted. The perspective of the Pala miniatures is particularly linear and in the
construction of the composition its subject-matter is arranged in a stylized manner.
The subject matter was outlined with black or red and filled in with color. Though
different shades of the colors used are noticeable in these paintings, tonal variation is
hardly present. In most cases it can be seen that the artists have tried to create
modeling with color and line. This means that it was attempted to bring the feeling of
roundness in the depicted object through decreasing and increasing the thickness of
the line and making it faint or sharp. Likewise, to create the illusion of depth in forms
highlights were used in areas where the planes of the object are higher than in others.
To express the convexity of form the artists have used white with the main color.
Moreover, in many instances the artists have coordinated both the color and line
methods to create a quality of formal depth, which has imparted a wonderful charm to
the modeling of the entire painting. Though there was certain rigidity in these
methods, but the fact that the artists of those times were conscious of the finer aspects
of representing modeling can be easily surmised from this. Moreover, in the paintings
by the artists of Bengal, especially in the wooden book covers, a kind of sculptural
quality of form found expression which was born from their inherent habit. This was
because the folk artists of Bengal were artists simultaneously in multiple media, on
different occasions they worked on many different items. It is quite justifiable to think
that from the habit of making idols a sculptural solidity found expression in the
paintings of the artists of Bengal.
The Mediaeval Style
In the presentation of Pala manuscript painting some peculiar characteristics
connected to the construction of its composition are to be noticed. Generally, over
shades of light colors, the forms of the subject-matter were arranged primarily from
a single point perspective inside an arch-like outline. Contextually we know that the
distinction of Gupta art revealed itself in the nuances of its expression. The feeling or
mood of the object presented is reflected through various meaningful postures, seats
and hand gestures. The nuances in painting have been expressed in the creation of
rounded forms and by coordinating the surrounding composition in accordance with
the forms. In the use of various shades of balanced and fresh colors in the interior of
shapes created by continuous flowing sinuous lines of various dimensions, it is the
well-modeled reflection of the object which is the life force of this art. Subsequently
in the middle ages the well formed character of classical art acquired a mainly line-
oriented and two-dimensional characteristic. Of course, lines were also used in
classical paintings but the objective behind their use was chiefly the creation of the
modeling quality of the object. But in the painting of the middle ages, the lines used
lose the continuous, facile characteristics of classical art and there is no noticeable

PAINTING 11


attempt to create modeling. Moreover, here in the composition of colors, the quality
of formal depth is absent and it is of a particularly two-dimensional character.
Although the sculpture of the Pala age was based on the firm foundation of the
classical ideal, due to the two-dimensional character of the medium of painting the
impression of the line oriented characteristic peculiar to the mediaeval style was
reflected here even though at its inception this art showed the signs of classical
painting. In discussing Pala painting it should also be mentioned that, here the
mediaeval pictorial philosophy never found full expression as is to be seen in western
Indian manuscript painting. From the end of the tenth century to about the next
hundred and fifty years due to the gradual diffusion of the practice of the mediaeval
painting method Pala painting almost totally lost the classical ideal of painting. But
perhaps it cannot be said that it became completely extinct. However, this period in
Pala painting tended to be linear and ornamental in character. In should be mentioned
here that it is this line oriented character that is considered to be the principal quality
of Bengali paintings. On the other hand, from the fourteenth century in Gujrat in
Western India another separate stream of manuscript painting is met with. Apparent
similarity with this trend is also noticeable in Pala painting. But though there is the
similarity of the religious awareness of the middle ages in the two methods there is a
very clear difference in the mode of expression. In western Indian painting, the single
dimensional broken line devoid of emotion and the angular character of the line is
considered to be the main characteristic. On the other hand, the continuous flowing
sensitive line of Pala painting gives the content of the painting a rhythmic, poetic
liveliness. There is also a basic difference present in the execution of the Pala and
Gujrati paintings. The Pala painter filled the blank spaces with colors after first
drawing the outlines of the object. On the other hand, the Gujrati artist first painted the
shape of the image with the help of colors and later the form was completed and
defined with lines. Moreover, in Pala painting the line used at the finishing stage was
drawn in a slightly darker shade consistent with the particular color used in the form
of each figure in the painting. However, in Gujrati painting in most cases the outline
was drawn with the help of the black color.
Upon the end of the Pala rule, from the end of the twelfth century, the mediaeval style
was able to exert a considerable influence in Eastern India. As a result of the Muslim
invasion in the thirteenth century due to the change of the political atmosphere in
Bengal, a different cultural situation arose. Due to religious and other related causes the
Pala, or in other words, most of the Eastern Indian manuscripts were removed to the
neighboring countries of Nepal and Tibet. The degeneration of Pala painting in Bengal
was hastened. The painting which was born from the classical artistic ideal at the
beginning of the Pala age decayed but did not completely vanish till the end of the
twelfth century. In the background of the cultural chaos at the beginning of Muslim
rule, under the forceful influence of the mediaeval artistic ideal the beginning of the
end of the glorious era of Pala painting was initiated. In the paintings of this period the
signs of grossness of line and color composition were clearly manifest.

12 ART AND CRAFTS


Pala painting was the initial instance of manuscript miniature in pre-Muslim India.
This painting primarily played a considerable role as a connecting bridge between the
classical mural painting method born in western India and the extensive practice of
miniature art that followed at a later age.
Painting during the Sultanate Period
In the successive stage after Pala painting a completely different kind of miniature
painting began in the courts of the Muslim Sultans in Bengal. This style of painting
was in all aspects inspired by the manuscript painting of the first stages of the Safavid
painting style of Persian art. It is from the tenth century AD that the enthusiasm of
the Muslim community for books is noticeable. Muslim painting right from its
beginning was dependent on paper, but in India the early manuscripts of books were
written on palm leaves. As palm leaves were used, the design of the paintings in the
manuscripts of India was of a horizontal character, but the aesthetic characteristics of
Muslim painting had developed in a vertical form. Due to religious reasons, Muslim
book illustrations imparted ideal form to the object or shape which was considered to
be more acceptable than faithfulness to reality. Calligraphy and geometric
ornamentation formed the spectacular ornamental beauty of this painting. Arab
painting of the Middle East was formed through the amalgamation of Hellenistic,
Christian, Sassanid, Manachean or Uighur paintings. Persia was traditionally rich in
14
fine arts from ancient times. After Arabian Islam had annexed Byzantium, the
painting of that region influenced the Muslim painters. At the other end after the
central Asian Turkemen adopted Islam the Chinese pictorial style entered Muslim
painting. The heritage of Muslim manuscript painting was formed mainly through the
connection between these three artistic traditions. Whereas, in the case of India it is
notable that no direct relation between the painting of the Sultanate with the local
Hindu, Buddhist or Jaina paintings was established. But in the Sultanate paintings of
the fifteenth/sixteenth centuries which were influenced by Persian art, the presence of
some local influence can be noticed. For instance, the manuscript of the Iskandar
Nama the first part of which is entitled Sharafnama composed during the reign of
Sultan Nusrat Shah, though executed following the Herat and Shiraz Schools of
Persia, the type of the script and the architectural design of the manuscript is
completely new and Bangladeshi in origin. 15

Wooden Book Cover and Pata Painting
Where at one end paintings influenced by Persia were being painted, simultaneously
during the rule of Husain Shah, Chaitanya Deva of Navadvipa fused the cult of Bhakti
introduced by him and artistic emotion to create a new culture. This movement gave
new life to the painting of Bengal. Mainly throughout the whole of the seventeenth
century, even up to the early eighteenth century in Vishnupur and other places the
painting of Bengal flourished in an unprecedented display of creativity. One of the
examples of this tradition was the painted wooden panel used as the cover of
manuscripts (fig.1.4). Other than these, specimens of narrative scrolls or patas drawn

PAINTING 13






























on hand made paper can also be found. It may be mentioned that paper was being
made in Bengal from the 16th century. These paintings used vegetable and mineral
colors mixed with Arabic gum. Under the influence of the Vaishnava religious belief, fig. 1.4 (top) Wooden
the legends of Krishna and Rama manifested themselves as the main themes of these book cover, 17th
paintings. These devotional and narrative paintings were done with the use of heavy, century, Birbhum
rounded lines. The figures on bright colors were in most cases set on a bright red
background (fig.1.5). fig. 1.5 (bottom) Scroll
painting (pata), 19th
These wooden book cover paintings displayed the degenerate form of Pala painting. century
These paintings simultaneously present the minute detailing of miniatures and the
expansiveness of wall paintings. In the style of the wooden book covers of Bengal of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries shadows of western Indian Rajasthani painting
is particularly visible. 16 Done in the medium of tempera, following the method of
memory painting, this wooden book cover using bright flat colors have a two
dimensional character, and is related with Bengal’s indigenous painting tradition.
It may be contextually observed that in the National Museum of Bangladesh there are
preserved 33 wooden book cover paintings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
These have been collected from Shariatpur, Faridpur, Habiganj and Dhaka. Although
Chaitanyalila, Krishnalila and stories of the Ramayana are represented in these,
however, the illustration of stories from the Mahabharata done in 19 book covers is
rarely seen anywhere else. Painted mainly in bright colors the formal style of the
painting of the wooden book covers followed the oblique line-based drawing of the
mediaeval Indian style. But the local artists of these paintings mainly executed them
in the style peculiar to the tradition of the popular art of Bengal.

14 ART AND CRAFTS


At the end of the eighteenth century the wooden book covers strongly manifested
many characteristics of Bengal’s popular patachitra. During this transformation the
wooden book cover artists of Vishnupur made an effort to preserve the heritage of this
painting in a different medium named Dashavatar Tash. The wooden book cover
painting is a very unique treasure belonging to the heritage of the painting of Bengal.
The selection of themes, the formal ideal and the artistic taste in this form of painting
reflected the mentality peculiar to the Bengali.

The Murshidabad Style
When in 1576 AD Bengal became a part of the Mughal Empire during the reign of
Emperor Akbar, the ground was prepared for the arrival of the Mughal artistic style of
Delhi. It is to be mentioned that Mughal miniature painting was a special achievement
for its contribution to the history of the fine arts of India. Through the combined effort
of Persian and Indian artists this secular form of painting derived inspiration from
Persian, Indian and western artistic styles and fashioned an intellectual artistic sphere.
Even when Bengal was amalgamated into the Mughal Empire, Persian influence was
naturally present in the court art of this region. These artworks existed up to nearly the
eighteenth century with a character which was discordant with the surrounding
environment of Bengal until the beginning of the eighteenth century (the year 1704)
when the capital of Bengal was transferred from Dhaka to Murshidabad. Murshidabad
then grew to become the socio-economic and cultural center of the whole of Eastern
India. In this context during the rule of Nawab Alivardi Khan (1740-56) a form of art
with unique characteristics was born in Murshidabad. This form of painting having a
17
well-organized and controlled style dominated by cool colors gained recognition as
the Murshidabad style of painting. In this context, it should be mentioned that the
central artistic style was followed in the capitals of the Mughal Empire. It was mainly
fig. 1.6 Murshidabad due to the amalgamation of the local forms with the central style that the local Mughal
School, 18th century styles were born.
On the other hand, Mughal art proper
was itself a successor of Persian art.
However, through the assimilation of
quite a few characteristics of traditional
Indian art forms and contemporary
Western art it built an artistic style very
much its own. Although this art form
arose drawing inspiration from foreign
artistic styles, in the end Mughal art
became a part of the traditional art of
India. The primary character of Mughal
painting was formed under the shadow
of the Safavid style painting of Persia.

PAINTING 15


This painting was two-dimensional and ornamental. The use of light and shade and
perspective was absent. The line was pure and smooth and the use of shining bright
enamel like colors was noticeable. During the early days of the Mughal style of painting
this formal influence was present but gradually the Indian artists assimilated it
sufficiently. At this stage, the local artists particularly accepted the purity of line and the
balanced use of stimulating colors from Persian art.
The composition of Mughal paintings developed through the use of complementary
colors in shapes distinctly divided by lines. The style of Mughal paintings is the
coexistence of many different colored planes, but the planes do not penetrate one
another or blend together. Again the areas are divided from each other by very fine and
distinct lines. During the last part of the sixteenth century the Mughal established a
relationship with the West through the Jesuit priests. Due to this and the love of art of
the emperors, the influence of contemporary European art, especially Flemish art,
became manifest in Mughal art. The gifts that were given by the Jesuit priests to the
Emperor included the illustrated Bible along with other paintings and similar items. The
illustrations in the Bible were copied by the Mughal artists due to the enthusiasm of the
Emperors. Local artists began to practice ‘scientific perspective’ with the intention of
creating depth in painting through the influence of the West. Moreover, there was a
noticeable effort made to create depth in objects by the variation of light and shade.
In the seventeenth century Mughal painting was able to come out of the sphere of
Persian art and acquired a character of its own. However, in this period the influence
of European paintings was manifest in the Mughal art of painting. As a result, it was
seen that the enamel-like bright colors in Mughal painting had started to become a bit
soft and dull. However, although the emperors had a great love and respect for western
painting, they were especially careful about their own artistic heritage. For this reason
it can be seen that, the Mughal Emperors were absolutely against the direct adoption
of characteristics of western painting in their own painting. If it was thought to be
necessary for something to be adopted, the emperors instructed the artists to assimilate
it and give it an Indian character. However, as a result of their reproducing and being
18
in contact with European art, the work of Indian artists reflected western
characteristics in a natural and spontaneous manner.
In the last part of the seventeenth century when love for the West diminished in the
Mughal court, naturally the western influence also became weaker in Mughal painting.
On the other hand, due to the overall diminishment of enthusiasm of the court for the
art of painting in this period, the inner strength of this style of painting gradually
waned. As the birth and expansion of Mughal painting occurred under the direct
patronage and enthusiasm of the emperors, so the change in the taste of the patrons
directly influenced its characteristics. In the eighteenth century during the period of
extreme deterioration of Mughal central rule, Mughal painting lost the very ground
under its feet. To preserve its existence it spread out to the different provincial centers
of the Mughal Empire.

16 ART AND CRAFTS


Mughal art was completely secular from the point of subject-matter and character.
Prior to the Mughal age the works of classical art produced in India under Hindu and
Buddhist supervision were specifically related to religion. The greatest significance of
Mughal painting is that in the painting heritage of this country which was driven to
give form to an absolute truth inspired by the imagination, the Mughals started a
parallel stream which was temporal and secular in nature. 19
During the last stage of Mughal rule the Mughal style of painting was cut off from the
center and its characteristic trait was in an excessive interest in sensual themes and
extreme sentimentality. At this stage the sweetness of the pure smooth line of the
paintings of the Mughal style diminished, color schemes and compositional balance
deteriorated considerably.
During the zenith of Mughal art the central influence prevailed absolutely in the art
practice of the provincial capitals of the vast Mughal Empire. Basically the artistic
styles of the provincial capitals were nearly completely dependent on the central
artistic style. When Mughal rule ended in Delhi the local styles were cut off from the
center and this made them lose their sense of direction. Of course, at a later stage the
art of a number of provinces won recognition as local regional styles by establishing
their own separate identity. As the change of the quality of the artistic environment
especially influence the form of art, so various regional Mughal styles could manifest
themselves as independent styles by acquiring distinctive local characteristics. Such
noteworthy regional Mughal styles of the last part of the eighteenth century are the
Murshidabad, Patna and Lukhnow styles.
During the age of decline of the Mughal Empire in the mid eighteenth century the
Murshidabad style of painting found expression as a regional Mughal style with
distinctive characteristics. During the reign of the de facto independent ruler of
Bengal, Nawab Alivardi Khan (1740-56 AD) quite a number of artists of the central
Mughal School came to the royal court of Murshidabad. These artists made it their
place of residence. The artist Dhaniram, a descendant of the artist community from
Rajputana which had been engaged in the royal court of Delhi since the 16th century,
took shelter at Baluchak on the bank of the Bhagirathi river of Murshidabad. 20
Murshidabad had been a place of importance even before Murshid Quli Khan
established it as the capital of the province of Bengal. This town was founded near
Karnasuvarna, the ancient capital of Bengal on the bank of the river Bhagirathi. In
fact, Murshidabad was the center of both the last stage of Mughal rule in India and
also the beginning of the British colonial era.
The local Mughal administrators of Murshidabad inevitably glorified the central
culture of Delhi. Through that connection the Mughal artistic style of Delhi arrived
here. But in the context of the local ruling authorities enjoying greater independence
due to the decline of the central rule, the environment was prepared for the rebirth of
local culture. As a result, the painting of Murshidabad evinces a combination of the
central Mughal painting style and the local traditional style.

PAINTING 17


When Mughal rule was established in Murshidabad, the court life here was naturally
infiltrated by Delhi’s luxurious life style. The patronization of art was an inseparable
part of it. It should be mentioned here that when Delhi’s court art came to
Murshidabad the central Mughal art tradition had begun to degenerate.
Although Murshid Quli Khan was not an enthusiastic appreciator of the fine arts, he
indirectly patronized some special art forms for purely religious reasons. In some of the
paintings done during his era the eighteenth century central Mughal formal style is
apparent. Later during the rule of Alivardi in the various paintings of hunting scenes by
Dipchand, the distinguished artist of Murshidabad, the shadow of the final stages of the
central Mughal style found clear expression (fig.1.6). In the second half of the
eighteenth century a change of direction is to be noticed in the painting of Murshidabad.
After the death of Alivardi in 1756 a group of artists coming from Rajasthan settled
permanently in Murshidabad. It was mainly through them that the form of Murshidabad
painting suddenly leaned towards the Rajput style. 21 Later during the reign of
Sirajuddowla in the midst of the high class and fashionable rules and regulations of
court painting, an informal and human characteristic found expression.
The Ragini paintings executed in this period expressed not only the Rajasthani mood,
the rhythmic quality of the lines used in the drawing and the tonal richness rendering
the roundness of forms gave greater expression to the paintings. What deserves special
mention in the context of Murshidabad painting of this time is that there is a noticeable
blending between some formal elements of the ancient art of pata painting of Bengal
and the Rajasthani art of painting that had arrived in Bengal.



























Translated by Kamaluddin Md. Kaiser, writer, Dhaka

18 ART AND CRAFTS




B. Company Art and Foreign Artists in India
Faizul Azim and Abul Mansur

Company Art
The rule of the Nawabs in Murshidabad became politically uncertain due to the defeat
of Sirajuddowla at the hands of the British at Plassey in 1757. As prominence of
Murshidabad decreased slowly, the quality of the court-patronized painting started to
degenerate as well. Nevertheless, the loss of the patronization of the Nawabs was
substituted by the rising Hindu capitalist society and with their sympathetic cooperation
the court-painters continued to paint, the subject-matter chiefly being Hindu religious
motifs. In fact, at that period, the Murshidabad style of painting became divided into two
distinct types. One was inspired by local painting-styles outside the court and was
manifested in manuscripts and scroll paintings and the other was a completely different
trend inspired by the British traders who were gradually exerting more and more
influence. The last mentioned one, directly patronized by the British and other European
settlers came to be known as ‘Company Painting’ in later times.
The condition of the local artists during the Company period was not at all commendable
due mostly to the indifferent attitude of the British rulers towards Indian art. The British,
at that time, engaged Indian artists for such works as merely coloring and decorating
houses. However, the Company rulers felt the necessity of engaging local artists for the
purpose of painting only in later times. There were reasons for this change of attitude.
The Indian artists were not technically less accomplished than the professional English
painters. They were also psychologically more at ease than their European counterparts
when depicting their native people and nature. Above all, it was possible to employ the
local artists at much lower remuneration then the English painters.
As a result, as the area of the Company rule expanded the demand for employment of
the local artists increased as well. Thus a host of local artists, patronized by the
Company, started working not only in Murshidabad, but also in Patna, Benares and
some other places. However, their works did not pursue the traditional Indian style of
painting. Instead, they were executed in a style which tried to follow the naturalistic
trend of painting introduced by the English. This style of painting originated in
Murshidabad in the second half of the eighteenth century and persisted at different
centers of India even after the end of the Company rule.
A number of trends of Company art were noticeable in Murshidabad. Firstly, the
miniature portraits painted on paper. A synthesis of the provincial Mughal style and
the European ideals of art could be seen in these portraits of British and other
European aristocracy. The second trend was evident in group-portraits of the Indian
elite and feudal lords. These paintings, done at the direction of the Company and
executed in dull and drab colors, reflected in general the artistic taste of the British.

PAINTING 19


The third trend looked exceptional to a certain extent. It was known as ‘Mica Art’ for
the use of its rather unique medium. In this technique, the drawing was done on the
mica surface by incision and then a print of it was made on glass. When a transparent
paper was pasted on the glass and held against the light the drawing became evident.
This process of art was widely in use in religious festivals in Murshidabad at that time.
The company painters usually used paper imported from Europe. There were
numerous works done in pencil and in sepia wash on these papers, as well as drawings
and sketches in black and red inks. This painting style was an assimilation of the
rendering of the natural light and shade of the west, characteristics of the late
provincial Mughal art and some elements of the local folk art.
When the Company painters started to produce their works for the British in the later
part of the eighteenth century their primary objective was to record the enchanting
beauty of Indian nature and the mysterious life of the Indian people. This viewpoint
started to change considerably from the middle of the nineteenth century. The
Industrial Revolution in Europe, which culminated in the introduction of the railway
and the improvements in communication systems, started to reveal the mysteries of
India before the eyes of the west. The invention of the camera, in particular, prompted
in reducing the demand of the painters for recording scenes. Consequently the
necessity of Company art, patronized by the British, came to an end.
The British had, in general, rejected Indian traditional art as inferior to theirs.
Company art, an unfamiliar and hybrid art, which originated with their direct
patronization, had little relation with the socio-cultural and psychological phenomena
of the people of this land. Nor can its artistic values be regarded as being of high
standard. As a result, the cessation of this imposed art trend was inevitable when the
patronization and other facilities ended.
The influence of the British traders in Bengal was, however, increasing long before the
victory at Plassey, more specifically, from the time of Nawab Alivardi Khan. Though
the decisive victory at Plassey did occur in 1757 and thus the British colonial rule over
Bengal, that is, over India, commenced, the real expansion of the colony started
around 1770. The importance of Kolkata, which was the center of administrative
activities of the British colonial rulers, started to increase from this period and
Murshidabad gradually became a declining city. As Mughal rule as a comprehensive
political power in India waned on the one hand and the influences of the British ‘East
India Company’ increased on the other, western cultures and ways of life began to
invade a mediaeval India.
There came a great change in the political structure of India when, after the Sepoy
Mutiny in 1857, the Company rule ended and India was brought under the direct
governance of the British Empire. Kolkata started to gain importance as the
administrative center of India, thus culminating the decline of Murshidabad. Artists
from Murshidabad started to migrate to Kolkata in search of new patrons. However,
the first patron of these artists in Kolkata was Mary Impey, the wife of the Justice

20 ART AND CRAFTS


Impey. She came to India in 1774,
established a Zoo and employed local
artists to paint the birds and animals. The
majority of these artists were Muslims
and non-Bengalis, but names of some
Hindu artists belonging to the Kayastha
community were also available. Artists
Pir Bux, Sheikh Zainuddin, Ramadas,
Bhabani Das etc. showed considerable
skill in this style. Nevertheless, the
greatest painter of this school was
undoubtedly the Bengali artist Shaykh
Muhammad Amir from Karraya, who
was thought to be active between 1840
and 1850 (fig.1.7). Patronized by his
employer Thomas Halroyed he painted
fig. 1.7 Company the daily life of the Europeans, their pets, houses, carriages and households with great
School painting by dexterity. He also had no equal in painting portraits of the Europeans and the Indians.
Bengali artist Shaykh Shaykh Amir’s skill was sometimes compared to that of the famous maestro Mansur
Muhammad Amir of of the court of Emperor Jahangir. His landscapes and animal paintings were thought
Karraya, gouache on to be no inferior to his European contemporaries. 22
paper, Kolkata c. 1840-
50 after Arts of India The British started to take different perspectives and tactics to sustain colonial
1550-1990, Victoria and domination after India came under direct British administrative rule. Schemes were
Albert Museum, 1990 also taken to deal with India’s local art. Company Art was generally confined to
individual practices. The British planned to give art an institutional shape and decided
to establish art schools in India in the western fashion. Art education in India was
limited to clan or family traditions and Indian art entered a new era through the
introduction of art education at an institutional level. Thus, Indian art history observed
the end of the middle ages and the beginning of the modern age in the field of art.
It may be mentioned, in this context, that 39 examples of paintings done more or less
in the Company style are preserved in the National Museum in Dhaka. Done in
watercolor on handmade paper these paintings depict the Eid and Muharram
processions in Dhaka during the British regime. As the paintings differ substantially
in style among themselves it may be assumed that there is less possibility of them
being done by one particular artist. However, as the name Alam Musabbir was
attributed to all these paintings, they have come to be known as the works by that
artist. It is widely believed that these paintings of processions were executed at the
patronization of Nusrat Jung, the Nayeb Nazir of the Nimtali palace of Dhaka at the
beginning of the nineteenth century (pl.1.1).
Up to the end of the eighteenth century the British and other Europeans were the
principal patrons of Company Art. The art, which originated to satisfy the taste and

PAINTING 21


demand of these alien patrons, had very clearly adapted the naturalistic tendencies of
the art of the west. It is to be noted that the European artists who came to India to seek
their fortunes played an important role in formulating this art style, because the local
artists took lessons in naturalistic painting from these foreign artists.
Foreign Artists in India
A good number of artists from Great Britain and other European countries gathered
in India at the beginning of the Company rule. All of them were not well known; in
fact apart from a few, most of them were painters of mediocre or low caliber. There
were a number of amateurs besides professional painters. The works of both
professional and amateur painters are part of India’s socio-economic history. These
paintings are documents of British art history as well. It is not possible to assess the
successes and failures of the Company Art without a discussion of the foreign artists
in colonial India. 23
To the newcomers from Europe the people, their life and the natural scenes of India
were the prime attractions. The exuberant charm of Indian nature could not be
expressed in letters in those days without cameras. In fact, the practice of amateur
painting developed primarily from these personal requirements. It was natural that the
amateur painters had their limitations, though some of them undertook short training
courses and showed a lot of competence. But these were a handful and the general
quality of the majority was mediocre.
To the Europeans of the eighteenth century, India was a country of endless mystery
and wealth. After the 1757 conquest of India a good number of British and European
artists started to travel to India in the hope of making their fortunes overnight.
Nevertheless, some European artists came and settled in this country of their dreams
even earlier to try their luck. However, the tendency gained momentum due to the
establishment of colonial rule in India. We can collect the names of at least sixty fig. 1.8 Gaur, Kotwali
Darwaza, Thomas and
foreign painters, excluding the less important ones. These artists worked principally in William Daniell, after
three techniques – a) oil color on canvas, b) miniatures in watercolor on ivory, and c) Islamic Heritage of
engraving prints based on watercolors on paper. Important oil painters were Tilly Bengal, UNESCO, 1984
Kettle (1735-86), John Zoffany (1734/5-1810), Arthur Davis (1763-1822), Thomas
Hicky (?), Francesco Rinaldi (?), Robert
Home (1757-1834), William Beechy (?),
Marshal Clakson (?), the Russian artist
Vassily Vereschagin (1842-1904) etc.
Prominent among the artists who painted
watercolor miniatures on ivory were Ozias
Humphrey (1742-1810), George Chinnery
(1774-1852) and Charles D’Oyly (1781-
1845). Among those who did watercolors on
paper and then sold copies of engraving prints
from them were William Hodges (1744-97),

22 ART AND CRAFTS


the Belgian artist Balt Solvyns (1760-1826), James Mofat (?), Colesworthy Grant (?),
William Simpson (?) and the uncle-nephew duo Thomas Daniell (1749-?) and William
Daniell (1769-?). The Daniells earned great fame by depicting the exquisite
landscapes of India in their works (fig.1.8). Apart from these artists there were a
number of amateurs who came to India as service-holders or on other assignments
who took to painting as hobby or out of curiosity. Prominent among them were James
B. Fraser, William Prinsep, Emily Eden, Madam Belson, G.F. Atkinson etc. Apart from
such artists as John Zoffany and Tilly Kettle the others were mediocre and less known.
Although their works were not of great artistic merit, they were of great historic value
because of their detailed depiction of the nature, dwellings and households, popular
life, food and apparels, professions and rituals and fairs and festivals of Bengal of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were crucial in transforming the taste of the
elite society in India and created a preference for the naturalistic rendering of the west
which played a very significant role in shaping the characteristics of the modern art
movements in India in later years. 24
The British artists who came to India were natural descendents of the art traditions of
their country. A general practice of painting landscapes, portraits and genre-life
developed in England in the middle of the eighteenth century with the patronization
of the aristocracy and the wealthy classes of society. Artists like Joshua Reynolds,
Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth were the great exponents of this tradition.
The British artists in India were inspired by the artistic concept of these three noble
painters. However, despite excellent technical expertise, lack of imaginative and
creative powers on the part of most of these painters confined their works to a narrow
limit.
The attitude of the British towards traditional Indian art, on the other hand, was not
supportive. They considered traditional Indian art as inferior to that of the west. They
ridiculed Indian art for lacking knowledge of light and shade and perspective and
consequently drew up a plan to teach the local artists the techniques of western art
under the guidance of English art teachers. 25
















Translated by Abul Mansur, Professor, Department of Fine Arts, University of Chittagong

PAINTING 23




C. From the Colonial Period to the Present
Abul Mansur

The Colonial Period (1757-1947)
The fall of the Mughal Empire was initiated by the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in the
beginning of the eighteenth century. The period between then and the independence in
1947 can be termed as a transitional period in the history of India. A number of regional
forces rose to power in different areas of India in this period and the fragile
administrations created the opportunity for the western colonial aggressors to occupy
India. The British colonial rule, which was established through the decisive war at
Plassey in 1757, was not a mere political change of scenario like previous instances.
Instead, the near-200 years of British rule brought extensive transformations in not only
the lifestyle and psyche of the people of the Indian subcontinent but also in the
continuity of their long and traditional social systems and cultural traits. The manifold
transformations brought about a comprehensive shift of attitude and a restlessness and
skepticism in the society which in fact is persistent till now in different forms. Indian art
began to lose its traditional continuity from this time onwards and western tastes and
techniques started to play a significant role in the making of modern Indian art by
asserting great influence on it. Bengal was first and foremost in coming into contact
with the British and the influence helped create an aristocratic Bengali class equipped
with English education and western tastes. These newly educated Bengalis provided
leadership in two opposing activities, firstly, the imitation of western ideas and later on,
an upsurge of nationalistic fervor against the former. As a result, the characteristics of a
neo-Indian art started to take shape in this area. The art movements in India within the
two hundred years of British rule developed, in different historical periods, in a variety
of styles and techniques. The attitudes and tastes of the English rulers in different
periods of colonial rule exerted substantial influences on those developments. 26
1. The Kalighat Patachitra
The demand for Company painting had begun to wane in the middle of the nineteenth
century. Before it had ceased completely, there emerged two separate native art styles
in Kolkata, one of painting that grew around the Kalighat temple in the south, and the
other, the practice of a particular type of woodcut printing in northern Kolkata called
Bat-tala. They were, as a matter of fact, inspired by the tradition of Bengal’s folk art
and the art of idol-making. A particular style of painting developed around the
Kalighat temple at the end of the eighteenth century and continued throughout the
whole of the nineteenth century which later became celebrated as Kalighat Patachitra.
With the expansion and prosperity of Kolkata as the capital city of colonial India the
number of devotees and worshippers also began to rise. Colonial rule had disrupted
the traditional balance of rural life in India and patuas started to lose their professions.

24 ART AND CRAFTS


As a result, patuas from the outskirts of Kolkata and from 24 Parganas, Howrah,
Midnapore etc. began to throng around the Kalighat temple in the hope of earning a
living. They started to paint watercolor pictures of gods and deities on paper and sold
them at a very cheap price which immediately gained tremendous popularity. In the
beginning the patuas painted only religious themes and used local colors and cheap
papers. But interaction with urban life prompted them to accustom themselves with
imported colors and papers of better quality and it brought about a change in their
themes as well. They added to their themes such events as the life of the Englishmen 27
–such as horse races, hunting scenes, enjoying motor rides etc. They loved to ridicule
the self-indulgent life of the Bengali ‘Babu’ and expressed in their paintings the
images and incidences from the life of the Babu society with great sarcasm. The
patuas had depicted the contradictions and hypocrisies of the contemporary urban
society with a very subtle sense of observation and humor (pl.1.2). The inspiration
of folk dolls and clay-idols of Bengal are evident in the Kalighat patachitras.
Influence of Bengali folk painting can be detected in the use of the unmixed and bright
color palette. However, the eminence and accomplishments of the Kalighat Patas were
achieved through its beauty of sweeping lines and in the competence in using the dark
and light color tones to achieve the three-dimensional quality of forms. The artist’s
senses of observation and simplification and his control over medium and technique
combined together to display an astonishing quality and character in these paintings.

2. Printmaking and Bat-tala
Printed artworks in different mediums and techniques played an important role in
colonial India. The Daniells had sold their engraving portfolio Twelve Views of
Calcutta between 1786 and ’88. The first Indian engraver Ramchand Roy printed his
illustrated Oonoodah Mongul from Calcutta in 1816. In the initial stages the owners
of the printing presses were Englishmen. Bengali enthusiasts started to establish their
own presses from the later part of the nineteenth century in and around what is now
known as Bat-tala in the vicinity of Shovabazar and Chitpur area of northern Calcutta.
fig. 1.9 Bat-tala print A great number of small booklets started to be published from Bat-tala primarily as
entertainment reading for the scarcely educated urban Bengali. They consisted of
punthis, panchalis and panjika (sort of annual almanacs), myths and tales from Hindu
and Muslim traditions, popular folktales and elementary books for children’s
education which became extremely popular among the Bengali middle class.
Gradually they started to include illustrations and the illustrations added to the books’
popularity. These literary publications came to be known as ‘Bat-tala Literature’ and
the prints here were mostly woodcut and a few metal engraving prints from here
became well known as ‘Bat-tala Prints’ (fig.1.9). These prints depicted, other than
illustrations of the stories they accompanied, mythical deities such as Krishna, Durga,
and Kali. Other themes included portraits of illustrious persons, beautiful
architectures, fairs and festivals and rituals and ceremonies of the Bengali folk. The
artists of Bat-tala created the prints by first engraving the smooth surface of the wood-

PAINTING 25


plank with tools and taking prints of them in black ink on cheap papers and finally by
adding colors by hand on a few spots of the picture. Although the roots and the
inspirations of the Kalighat patuas and the Bat-tala printmakers were from the same
and similar sources, but, as woodcuts and engravings on metals required greater
technological expertise, it is to be noted that, whereas the Kalighat patuas were mostly
descendants from the tradition of folk painters, the printmakers of Bat-tala came more
from the tradition of wood and metal craftsmen – from the families of goldsmiths and
craftsmen in different media. This could be one reason why one can see more often
representations of Bengali folk motifs, such as nakshi kantha, alpana, nakshi pitha,
shakher hari etc. in Bat-tala prints than in the Kalighat paintings. 28
Lithography is another technique of printing pictures which gained popularity in this
country. Annada Prasad Bagchi (1849-1905) established his ‘Calcutta Art Studio’ in
1876 and started selling lithograph prints of religious and mythological scenes,
portraits and alphabets. Nevertheless, Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1907) of Kerala
achieved unprecedented popularity in all corners of India including Bengal by selling
oleograph prints from his own press which he established in 1894.
3. The Period of Transition – Introduction of Oil Painting
Along with these print techniques the British have introduced simultaneously the
technique of painting in oil color. The advantages of painting in oil have vastly
influenced the practice of painting in India. However, as paintings in oil color were
not as cheaply available as prints and thus were not popular among the masses, the
introduction of oil painting and the role it had played in transforming the artistic taste
before the establishment of art schools has not been much discussed or appreciated.
Many Indian painters took to paint in oil color along with the then prevalent Company
style of painting which was executed in watercolor and some of them showed
technical competence equal to that of the European painters. In fact, the practice of
painting portraits in oil color had become a very sought-after profession in India in the
later half of the eighteenth century, years before the establishment of art schools. It
was a period of transition, the time of a shift of taste of the Indian royalty and
aristocracy from the appreciation of the native art to the acceptance of the western
mode of art. The ‘Bhadralok’ Babu society of Kolkata decorated their houses with
replicas of western sculptures, at the same time they started to commission artists to
paint portraits in oil color. They employed foreign painters at the beginning, but soon
some local painters started to show considerable dexterity in this medium.
There evolved some composite styles of oil painting in different centers of India in the
decades between the end of the Company style and the introduction of the oil-painting
method which have great historical value as examples of a transitional period. Though
it started primarily as a means of portraiture, gradually artists took to other themes as
well. These artists usually took lessons from European teachers and copied paintings
by western artists. However, they helped develop some local oil painting trends as
well which were prevalent throughout the nineteenth century. These showed

26 ART AND CRAFTS


distinctive influences of various local styles. Thus, the paintings done in and around
Bengal showed marked influences of the linear characteristics of the Kalighat pata.
Apart from Bengal, these local features became evident in works from Bombay,
Baroda, Travancore, Madras etc. Nevertheless, as these paintings did not receive much
attention in Indian art history, though some evidence remains, the names of the artists
have rarely been recorded. It is reported that Gangadhar Dey(?) earned fame as a
portrait painter in Bengal. 29

4. The Western Naturalistic Trend
The western education system was introduced to India in1835 by the approval of
Macaulay’s proposals for an education policy in India. As a follow-up of this, art
institutions were established in different cities and thus formal western art education
began in India. Although the ‘Mechanics Institute’ was established in 1839 in Kolkata
on private initiative, the founding of the ‘School of Industrial Art’ in 1854 actually
initiated a systematic process of art education in Bengal. It was later known as the
‘Government School of Art’. Art schools were established in the nineteenth century
with government or private support, outside of Kolkata, in Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur
and Lahore. At the initial stages these institutions offered only technical knowledge to
the art students. It was only in later periods that they incorporated different branches
of fine arts such as creative painting and sculpture into their curricula. Thus there
emerged a group of talented artists who became proficient in the western techniques
of naturalistic rendering. The pioneering figures in Bengal were Annada Prasad
Bagchi (1849-1905) and Shyamacharan Srimani (?-1875). Another Bengali artist of
fig. 1.10 Shashikumar the nineteenth century, Bamapada Banerjee (1851-1932) earned great popularity by
Hesh, Female Nude, selling prints of his oil paintings on themes from the Indian myths which he got
sketch printed from Germany. Rohinikanta Nag (1868-95) and Shashikumar Hesh (1869-?)
(fig.1.10) went to Italy and were the first Indians to go to any western
country for higher training in fine arts. Shashi Hesh stayed back and was
acclaimed in England and Germany as a painter of excellence. Despite the
rise of the revivalist trend of the Bengal School in line with an upsurge of
a nationalistic fervor in the early twentieth century, the practice and
appreciation of western naturalism remained one of the major trends in the
art arena of India throughout the colonial period. In fact, its practices and
influences never waned. It is noteworthy here that when E. B. Havell, the-
then principal, introduced Indian style of art education in the Calcutta Art
School shunning western techniques, the majority of the students rebelled
and there were adverse reactions among the Indian civil society in
Kolkata. A large number of students left the school in 1897 under the
leadership of Ranadaprasad Gupta (?-1927) and joined ‘The Jubilee Art
Academy’ founded by him. It survived for two and a half decades and
despite its dependence on one person, attracted a large number of
students. However, Manmathanath Chakrabarty (1866-1932), another

PAINTING 27


protagonist of the western system of art education, established his own art institution
before Ranadaprasad, ‘The Indian School of Art’, in 1893 which has survived till now
despite many obstacles and limitations and has lately been taken over by the
government. Apart from these, there were other efforts to introduce art education from
many quarters and on different occasions, but all of them were short-lived. ‘National
School’, which offered an art course as well, was initiated by ‘Hindu Mela’ in 1872
and Shyamacharan Srimani was appointed art teacher of the school. A self-taught
artist, Girindrakumar Datta (1841-1909), founded ‘The Albert Temple of Science and
School of Technical Art’ in 1876 to commemorate the Prince of Wales’ visit to India
in that year. Manmathanath’s pupil in ‘The Indian School of Art’, Shashibhushan Paul
(1878-1946), went back to his village in Maheshwarpasha in the district of Khulna and
established ‘Maheshwarpasha School of Fine Art’ in 1904. 30
This school was the first of its kind in the geographical area which now consists of
Bangladesh and perhaps the only village-oriented art school in this subcontinent.
Shashibhushan thus commands a pioneering role in the history of art education in
Bangladesh. Other artists who worked in the naturalistic tradition in the twentieth
century included Jamini Prakash Gangooly (1878-1953) (pl.1.4), Hemendranath
Majumdar (1894-1948) (pl.1.5), Atulchandra Bose (1898-1977), Basantakumar
Gangooly (1893-1968), Prohlad Karmakar (?-1946) and Debiprasad Roychowdhury
(1899-1975).
5. Abanindranath and the Neo-Bengal School
E. B. Havell, an admirer and promoter of Indian art, was appointed principal of the
Calcutta Art School in 1896. Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) agreed to join the art
school as vice-principal at the request of Havell and joined hands with him in fig. 1.11 Abanindranath
introducing the Indian techniques of art education in the institution (fig.1.11). Tagore, The Final
Nandalal Bose (1883-1966) (fig.1.12), Surendranath Kar (1894-1970), Asit Kumar Moments of Shah Jahan,
Haldar (1890-1964), K. Venkatappa (1887-1965), Samarendranath Gupta (1887- oil, 1902
1964), Kshitindranath Majumder (1891-1975),
Shailendranath Dey (1891-1972) etc. became disciples of
Abanindranath and under his guidance contributed to
introducing a new revivalist art style. The movement received
unprecedented support and its popularity spread all over India
in the emotive atmosphere of the ‘Swadeshi’, the nationalistic
movement. It came to be known as the ‘Bengal School’ or
‘Neo-Bengal Art’ and in fact it was the first true modern art
movement in India.
Havell and Abanindranath did not approve of the dramatic
paintings in oil in the western technique by the popular
painter Raja Ravi Varma of Kerala depicting Indian religious
and mythological scenes. They tried, instead, to re-introduce
the techniques of traditional Indian art. Interestingly, the

28 ART AND CRAFTS


method introduced by Abanindranath was never a purely Indian one, it
was in fact a synthesis of the traditions of Ajanta, Mughal, European
naturalism and the Japanese wash technique (pl.1.5). The new art, done in
watercolor and depicting scenes from Indian religious, mythological,
literary and historical themes, was hailed by the nationalists as the
befitting art for a neo-India and replaced Ravi Varma’s as the most
popular art trend in India. Abanindranath’s preferences were more
towards historical and literary themes instead of religion and mythology
and his sophisticated taste, senses of observation and proportion and his
training in naturalistic rendering have given his art a rare charm and
poetic splendour. Nandalal Bose was the only one among his disciples
who was able to display his individual talents and made for himself a
separate mark within the characteristics of the movement (pl.1.6).
However, excepting one or two, the others lacked any creative
imagination, and the movement in their hands soon became overtly
sentimental, decorative and imitative in character and lost its potency.
Abdur Rahman Chughtai (1894-1975), a Muslim painter from Lahore,
created an individualistic style inspired by the Bengal School and became popular
among the Muslim community in undivided India and later on in Pakistan.
6. Creative Individuals: Gaganendranath - Jamini Roy -Rabindranath
Although in the first few decades of the twentieth century the Bengal School remained
popular and the acceptance of the western naturalistic trend was widespread, there
emerged a few creative persons with individual characteristics. They endeavored to go
beyond the monotony of the prevailing trends and tried to incorporate in their work
contemporary ideas and individualism. Their relevance in the contemporary art of
India remains important. Gaganendranath Tagore (1867-1938), Jamini Roy (1887-
1973) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) are such three exceptional personalities.
Gaganendranath, the elder brother of Abanindranath Tagore, initially attached himself
with the Bengal School movement, but gradually drifted away and attempted to create
an individualistic language of
expression. He was the first cartoonist
in India who tried to comment upon
political and social realities in this
fig. 1.12 (top) Asit branch of art. He was also the first
Haldar, a drawing from painter in India who attempted
the Omar Khayyam consciously to come out of both the
Series, pen and ink on traditionalistic and naturalistic
paper, early 1940s viewpoints and tried to look at the
painting-surface as an arrangement of
fig. 1.13 (bottom) line, form, color and light and shade.
Rabindranath Tagore, His paintings depicted conflicting
Katakuti

PAINTING 29


areas of light and shade in architectural and interior settings in a personal style which
showed some resemblance with Cubism. He attempted also to portray mythological
and spiritual themes in terms of form and light and shade which sometimes came very
close to abstraction. Gaganendranath could rightly be termed as the pioneer of
modernistic ideas in the history of Indian art (pl.1.7).
It was a revolutionary decision on the part of Jamini Roy when he decided in 1921 to
abandon his dexterity in the naturalistic craftsmanship of the west and employed himself
to the pursuit of a new language of art taking inspiration from the folk art of the rural
people. Although the aesthetic qualities of folk art were not completely ignored, not
many artists had thought of applying it to institutionalized high art at that time. Hence,
Jamini Roy pioneered a fresh artistic expression in Indian art. He abandoned the practice
of achieving tactile quality with the application of a three-dimensional rendering,
perspective and light and shade and accepted the folk way of treating the surface in a
two-dimensional pattern, application of color in a tone-less flatness and the use of a
flowing outline. He succeeded in creating a new art, sophisticated and well-balance,
using the matrixes of the folk art which expressed a fresh and simple beauty and retained
the Indian characteristics as well (pl.1.8).
Although Rabindranath Tagore started to show his artistic traits from the 1920s, he
emerged as one of the major contributors in shaping modern Indian art from the 1930s.
One can feel the succession of Bengali and Indian traditions in almost all the prose and
poetic creations of Rabindranath Tagore. However, his paintings did not admit any
such debt. Rabindranath’s paintings could only be termed as individualistic products
of an extraordinarily creative and imaginative mind. His extensive tours abroad and
thus his acquaintance with contemporary world art and its diverse expressions could
well be one reason for this. Nevertheless, he succeeded in accumulating them all and
transforming them into a very personal style which was at the same time local and
universal. His paintings display expressions of a mysterious and primitive inner force
and an enigmatic twilight zone of the human psyche (fig.1.13, pl.1.9).
7. The Modernistic Ventures
The imminent threats of a world war and a great economic depression prompted a rise fig. 1.14 Mukul Dey,
and extension of progressive political thoughts and social awareness among the Drawing the Net,
intellectuals and artistic community of Bengal in the 1930s. Artists began to abandon drypoint, 1934
the traditional themes based on religion,
myth and history and instead became
interested in depicting contemporary
scenes from the real society around
them. These endeavors gave birth to
such artists’ groups as the ‘Young Artists
Union’ (1931) and the ‘Art Rebel
Centre’ (1933) and members of them
painted in the naturalistic way but in a

30 ART AND CRAFTS


modernistic language. Gobardhan Ash
(1907-?), Abani Sen (1905-72), Annada
Dey (?), Bhola Chatterjee (1899-1982),
Atul Bose, Gopal Ghosh (1913-80) and
others were prominent among them.
The pioneers of this modernistic
viewpoint in the field of printmaking
were Mukul Chandra Dey (1895-1992)
(fig.1.14) and Ramendranath
Chakravorty (1902-55). Those who
followed them later and excelled in this
field included Muralidhar Tali (?),
Adinath Mukherjee (?), Safiuddin
Ahmed (1922-) and Haren Das (1921-
93) (fig.1.15). Rabindranath Tagore
31
established the Kala Bhavana in 1920s.
A liberal synthesis of the art traditions of the west and the east was practiced there
under the leadership of Nandalal Bose and thus a different modernistic trend developed
there whose finest examples were the two very talented disciples of Nandalal – Benode
Behari Mukherjee (1904-80) and Ramkinkar Baij (1906/10-1980). Nandalal himself
went through revolutionary transformations when he moved out of the influence of
Abanindranath and acquainted himself with the world of Rabindranath’s ideas. His
paintings abandoned glorifying themes from religious, mythical and historical events
and started to depict nature, animals and minor scenes from the daily life of the
common people (pl.1.6). It can be asserted that Nandalal’s teaching had a significant
effect on the art trend which originated from Santiniketan. The paintings of Benode















fig. 1.15 (top) Haren
Das, Sweet Home, print

fig. 1.16 (bottom) Zainul
Abedin, Famine Sketch-
6, brush and ink. 1943

PAINTING 31


Behari displayed a progressive and
modernistic look amalgamating
influences from both western and
eastern traditions and perhaps contained
indications of modern Indian painting
of the future (pl.1.10). His murals also
displayed such possibilities.
Ramkinkar’s sculptures as well as his
paintings can similarly be treated as the
pioneering examples of the future art of
modern India (pl.1.11). In the 1940s
Bengal was struck by a great famine as
a consequence of the second world war,
which is now well known as the
‘Bengal Famine of 1943’ in which
millions died of starvation. Artists in
Bengal were moved by the incident and a number of them did paintings on the theme fig. 1.17 Chittaprasad
including famous artists of the region. However, the dreadful realities and the extreme Bhattacharya, brush and
ignominy of humanity as a result of the famine were portrayed with all their tragic ink, 1944
realism in the works of two very young artists – Zainul Abedin (1914-76) (fig.1.16), a
young teacher of the Govt. Art College and Chittaprasad Bhattacharya (1915-78), a
worker-painter of the Indian Communist Party (fig.1.17).
Some organizations played important roles in the development of fine arts in colonial
India. Most of them were established at the initiative of some enthusiastic English
civil servants and elite members from the Bengali society. Kolkata’s ‘Brush Club’
(1830) was in all probability the first such association of artists in India. Members of
it organized the first ever art exhibition in India as well. Other such groups included
‘Calcutta Art Society’ (1889), ‘Indian Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts and
National Gallery’(1892), ‘Bangiya Kala Samsad’(1905), ‘Indian Society of Oriental
Art’(1907), ‘Bichitra’(1916), ‘Society of Fine Arts’(1921) and ‘Calcutta
Group’(1942). Indian Society of Oriental Art was pioneered by Abanindranath and
Gaganendranath Tagore, while the initiative behind the Bichitra Sabha or the Bichitra
Club, which was centered around the Tagore-house at Jorasanko, was Rabindranath
Tagore. However, art trends with influences from the west were initiated in
contemporary Indian art by the establishment of the Calcutta Group. Members of this
group included Prodosh Dasgupta (1912-), Gopal Ghosh (1913-80), Nirad
Majumder(1916-82), Paritosh Sen (1918-), Shuvo Thakur (1912-?), Rathin Maitra
(1913-97), Prankrishna Paul (1915-?) etc. many of whom became established in later
years as important pioneers of modern art in independent India. 32
There was no significant example as such of institutional art education in the area
known as East Bengal and later on Bangladesh in the two hundred years of colonial

32 ART AND CRAFTS


rule. The only exception was ‘Maheshwarpasha School of Fine Arts’ in Khulna which
was established by the Kolkata-trained painter Shashibhushan Paul and of which
mention has been made earlier. However, despite Shashibhushan’s commendable
efforts his school could make little impact on the artistic atmosphere of East Bengal.
Whereas Kolkata was the center of political and cultural activities of the whole of
India, the nearby town Dhaka or any other city of East Bengal did not bear testimony
of any institutional art activity. Dhaka at that time was a small township and all the
enterprising Bengalis chose Kolkata as their working place. Despite the existence of a
very lively and colorful folk art, there was no effort for institutional art education in
this region in the colonial period. If some endeavors existed at all, there are not enough
and dependable records to substantiate them. Nevertheless, a good number of students
from East Bengal would go to Kolkata to study at the art school there and some of
them could have arranged shows in their respective regions and could also have taught
art to apprentices. Consequently, it is possible that some exhibitions of trained art and
some art training could have taken place in colonial East Bengal, even if we do not
have convincing information of them.
Many of the English artists of the Company Period toured extensively in East Bengal
and some of them made drawings and paintings of Dhaka, Chittagong and other
areas. Well-known artists like George Chinnery and Sir Charles D’Oyly painted
many scenes of Dhaka. The rest, however, were unknown or amateur artists. The
Bangladesh National Museum has preserved 39 paintings in watercolor on Eid and
Muharram procession done in the early nineteenth century by an artist named Alam
Musabbir (?). The artistic rendering indicates that the painter could be a descendant
of the Murshidabad school of art and from this an assumption may be made that a
feeble branch of Company Art could have reached Dhaka. However, without any
further examples we can not be certain about it. When an art school was established
33
in Kolkata, those who pursued artistic fame, irrespective of Hindus and Muslims,
thronged to that institution and stayed back there in the hope of a livelihood and
fame. After the independence and partition of the subcontinent in 1947 the Bengali
Muslim artists in Kolkata migrated to East Pakistan and initiated institutional art
education here.














Translated by Abul Mansur, Professor, Department of Fine Arts, University of Chittagong

PAINTING 33


East Pakistan Period (1947-1970)
The Indian subcontinent was liberated from the colonialist regime in 1947 and two
independent and sovereign states named India and Pakistan were born. East Bengal,
which is today’s Bangladesh, became a part of Pakistan and it can be said that the
region’s struggle to gain its own cultural and artistic identity started right then. There
was no opportunity for institutional practice of art in East Bengal at the time of the
partition of the subcontinent. There were no facilities for art schools or art exhibitions
in Dhaka or the other major cities. There was indeed an artistic movement surrounding
the Maheshwarpasha School of Fine Art established by the artist Shashibhushan Paul
in Khulna in 1904. However, being located in a remote rural area and Shashibhushan’s
individual western mimetic concept of art being the only foundation of the school and
being separated from the modern ideas of art, the school did not have much of an
effect on the overall art environment of East Bengal despite being active for a long
time. Though Shashibhushan is honored as one of the pioneers of the practice of
painting in this region, it needs to be said that the introduction of contemporary and
modern art education occurred through establishing the government institute of art
education in Dhaka after the independence in 1947. Under the leadership of Zainul
Abedin, the ‘Government Institute of Fine Art’ was founded in Dhaka in 1948 and it
can be said that in searching the history of Bengal’s own art practices, we have to
determine this as the introductory period.
1. The Forties
After the partition, the artists who started the practice of fine art under the leadership
of Zainul Abedin had borne with them the training of the European academic style
from the art school of Kolkata and the contemporary types of Kolkata-centric artistic
styles. Almost all of them appeared as artists in the forties and through their style of
art and system of education, the modern practice of art started in Bangladesh, or rather,
in the former East Pakistan. Among them, Zainul Abedin, Safiuddin Ahmed, Anwarul
Huq (1918-80), Khwaja Shafique Ahmed (1925-?) and Quamrul Hassan (1921-88)
were creative artists whose names are worth mentioning. The connection that is
noticed in the works of the artists in the forties is the attempt to reflect the nature of
the native land and the life and livelihood of the common people. Although the Bengal
School was then dominant in the Kolkata-centric practice of art, these artists did not
accept its religion, mythology, and history based subject; however, they practiced
some aspects of this style. The city life also did not have much attraction for them.
Rather the natural surroundings of rural Bengal and the life and livelihood of people
from the lower segments of society were reflected through their paintbrushes with
compassion and sincerity. Their practice of painting started under the European
academic style. In later periods, interaction with folk art and various western styles
had their effect at different stages. These artists were not influenced by the practice of
the abstract style that became dominant in the former East Pakistan in the fifties and
sixties; although the abstract style was practiced in some stages by some artists.

34 ART AND CRAFTS


Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin is the father of modern practice of art in Bangladesh. His
drawings based on the famine of 1943 in Bengal gained him fame all over India and
as an immediate, compassionate and haunting representation of a pitiful human
tragedy, these caught the eyes of art enthusiasts in many parts of the world. After the
partition of 1947, he came to Dhaka and devoted himself to initiating a movement of
art practice and creating institutional facilities. The Government Institute of Art was
established in Dhaka in 1948, mainly due to his initiative. Relying on his highly
skilled adeptness in the European academic style, Zainul Abedin started his journey as
a romantic portrayer of rural natural scenes. However, the miserable and horrifying
face of the man-created famine of 1943 infused within him a rebellious and protesting
character which he retained in the later stages of his life. Prior to settling in Dhaka
permanently, the main theme of the art environment in which he dwelt followed the
European academic style. Although the decaying influence of the Bengal school was
still in effect, academic naturalism was still the fundamental principle in the ideas of
art centered in the Calcutta Art School. Thus, Zainul’s inclination towards this mimetic
naturalism was strongly active in him because of his training. Nevertheless, he was
able to realize the superficiality of this external naturalism. However, as an alternative,
the ornamental lines and literary subject matter of the Bengal school also did not win
his approval. Jamini Roy’s folk tradition based formulized style also did not win his
support. His talent in drawing lines in the European style was exceptional. Thus,
despite being disinclined towards the conventional European academic style, he made
use of these very lines gained from his training as his ‘sign’. He added movement,
force and emotion in his lines. In the realistic context, he avoided the technique of
putting layers of color in proportion to the degree of light and shadow to make the
scenes convincing and made the outline of objects more well-defined and distinct by
applying accentuated and deep lines, while he brought colors down to mere
suggestions. He transformed what started with mere dark lines of a paintbrush in the
famine sketches of 1943 into a style of his own through the minimal use of colors and
the proportionate use of space. His many well known pictures of later times, such as
The Rebel Cow, Leveling the Ploughed Field, Santhal Couple etc. are perfect
examples of this style. The opportunity of foreign training in the early fifties, the
language movement of fifty-two and contemporary events probably inspired him to
turn his gaze at the cultural traditions of his country. In the fifties and also later, Zainul
Abedin executed some paintings by arranging motifs of the folk style in geometric
compositions. Mother of Painya (pl. 1.12), Prasadhan, Pulling Boat etc. are notable
works in this style. To Zainul, struggling, brave, working people in natural
surroundings, insurmountable humankind fighting against a hostile environment, is
the ultimate and everlasting truth. Thus, Zainul’s artistic spirit is overwhelmed with
undiluted emotion at the degradation of humanity. He created the 65 feet long scroll
painting Nabanna in the context of the mass movement of sixty-nine. In a way that
characterizes him, he portrayed a comprehensive image of the ever-continuing

PAINTING 35


Bengali life avoiding direct political commentary in the style of traditional pata or
scroll painting that brought to life the desire for freedom of the Bengali people. The
indifference shown by the authorities then in power towards people whose lives were
shattered by the terrible cyclone of 1970 affected him tremendously and the 3o feet
long scroll drawing Manpura 70 was created. Memories from the line drawings of the
famine seem to be aroused here. Zainul seems to be almost razor sharp when nature
and humankind take conflicting stances. His paintings were mainly done in
watercolor. The numerous landscapes drawn in dark lines of the reed pen along with
watercolors have become a style that is unique to Zainul Abedin. His other well known
paintings include The Struggle, Apeksha and many others. 34
Following Zainul Abedin, seniormost among the artists of the forties was Anwarul
Huq. Though in his early stages he became known for his proficiency in painting
landscapes in watercolor in the western academic style, later he began painting in oil
color and still life and portraits became included in his repertoire along with nature
(pl.1.13). At a later stage, his paintings display an attempt to go beyond observable
reality, sometimes through a surreal expression, sometimes by arriving at a completely
abstract level. Here the artist has attempted to integrate organic and inorganic forms
on the pictorial surface mainly through lines and textures. He seems to be looking for
answers to the many questions and doubts about the universe, nature and mankind that
rose in his mind in these paintings.
One of the leading artists of the forties is Safiuddin Ahmed. In terms of creativity and
excellence, he holds a distinguished position both as a painter and a printmaker. In
fact, he played the role of pioneer in the practice of printmaking in the former East
Pakistan. In the Kolkata centric artworks executed prior to forty-seven, Safiuddin was
influenced by western naturalism followed by the art schools and the Bengal School.
In this period he became recognized throughout India as a distinguished artist in the fig. 1.18 Safiuddin
wood cut medium (especially wood engraving). Baner Pathey, Santal Bala, Ahmed, Fishing Net, oil
Homeward are important illustrations of his work in this period. Being brought up in on canvas, 1976

36 ART AND CRAFTS


the urban environment of Kolkata, Safiuddin settled in Dhaka after the partition and
he was fascinated at the endlessly stretching nature, boundless mass of water and the
simple and lively way of life of the peasant people of East Bengal. From then on, the
main subjects of his paintings and prints became water, fish, and boat and the
symbolized eye. Gradually he became inclined towards semi-abstract geometric
representation of forms and at the same time, he became interested in integrating the
various motifs of folk art on his pictorial surface (fig 1.18).
In 1950, Khwaja Shafique Ahmed joined the Government Art Institute in Dhaka and
as the head of the applied art department he made significant contribution in
developing this branch of art. His repute in representing scenes of various festivals of
our society in the watercolor and gouache mediums is substantial. Brightness of colors
and his perceivable application of light and shade in Durga Bisarjan (fig 1.19), Eidul
Fitr and other paintings deserve to be mentioned. Along with Kazi Abul Kasem and
Quamrul Hassan, Khwaja Shafique Ahmed has made significant contribution to the
growth and development in quality of applied art. In the year 1965-66, he created a
few experimental paintings using sand, rope etc.
At a very early age, Quamrul Hassan joined the Bratachari movement founded by
Gurusaday Dutt. Though his direct association with the movement ended in 1948, its
substantial effect on him can be perceived throughout his life. The Bratachari
movement initiated in Quamrul love for the country, its people and its indigenous
rural culture which, in later periods, acted as a great realization and influence in his
painting. Through his study of Bengal’s jari-sari songs, baul songs, dhaly dance,
dance of the lathial, raibenshe dance etc., Quamrul became acquainted with the
grassroots of the cultural spirit of Bengali people. The same stimulus fuelled his
interest in indigenous paintings, dolls, sculptures, crafts etc. and his urge to use these
as inspiration in his art work. At the first stage, Quamrul Hassan worked under the
influence of the European academic style and the Bengal School, striving with
honesty to create an image of the visible reality. Pratibeshi, Peep are mentionable
examples of his work in this style. Nevertheless, this kind of mimesis gave him no
fig. 1.19 Khwaja satisfaction. Practice of pata painting during the Bratachari movement, the influence
Shafique Ahmed, of his teacher, Zainul’s work and his attraction to Jamini Roy’s painting attracted
Durga Bisarjan
Quamrul Hassan to folk art. The folk form of the craft of clay dolls influenced him
particularly. From the beginning of the fifties, the female
figures in his paintings have full forms like clay doll, long
neck, eyes and nose stylized in the folk style and throughout
the canvas, a two-dimensional design quality is established.
Three women (pl. 1.14), Guntana etc. are works of this style.
In this period, his subject was mainly the mother and child;
woman in many postures; single, double or triple faces of
woman; family; everyday household chores; man
accompanied by animals etc. A happy, content, ideal rural

PAINTING 37


picture that represents a dream image of typical Bengal– this is the main theme of his
painting during this period. The surge in Quamrul Hassan’s creativity began from the
sixties. In the fifties he tried to create a suggestion of folk painting through charming
and full outlines and the flat application of colors, very much like Jamini Roy’s
methods. From the sixties, Quamrul Hassan’s creation began to grow in terms of
numbers and diversity. In this period, he used woodcut, linocut and other print media
just as he painted in watercolor, oil color, gouache, acrylic and other media.
Overcoming the direct imitation of Bengal’s folk art and the influence of Jamini Roy,
he got involved with various experiments– with the indigenous elements he added the
concise conviction, exaggeration and transformation of the drawings of Picasso,
Matisse and others, or, in a Cubistic manner, representing objects on the same
pictorial plane from different points of view. From the seventies, satire and fantasy
gradually began to be combined with his work. Also, in the case of subjects, Quamrul
Hassan gradually abandoned the traditional rural scenes, became much more
contemporary, socially conscious and vocal. The mass movement of sixty-nine and
the Liberation War of seventy-one inspired him enormously and the nature of these
socio-political struggles has been intensely represented in his paintings. The poster
drawn by him during the Liberation War, Annihilate these demons (fig 4.9), inspired
the whole nation. In the period after the independence of Bangladesh, Quamrul
Hassan created paintings, prints, and even executed a few sculptures. He
progressively moved towards creating his own distinction and pictorial language and
this tendency was unabated till his death. The ruined dreams and frustrations in the
post-independence period of Bangladesh were portrayed in his paintings through
numerous symbols– the use of owl, fox, skeleton was observed frequently. His lines fig. 1.20 Quamrul
gradually became sharp and measured, the delicate expression of the earlier period Hassan, Drawing-7, after
faded away and the lines became succinct yet meaningful and significant. His Nirantar, (Dhaka 2005)
tendency towards unpleasant and terrible subjects
rather than charming and pleasant subjects continued to
increase, the world of fantasy started to find its way
through. These are illustrated in Chandraloke
Hatabhagya Ghora (wretched horse in moonlight),
Image, Fox, Gonohotyar Parey (After the Genocide)
and many other works. However, Quamrul’s creativity
was at its peak in his drawings. It seems that in the
hundreds of small and large drawings, Quamrul Hassan
has written a journal on the life of men and the nature
of Bengal. From the fine and subtle lines to short
calligraphic lines, thick strokes of the brush, broken
lines through daubs and scratches of the brush, he has
expressed the language of lines in many ways. A
synthesized form of east and west has merged within
his lines (fig 1.20).

38 ART AND CRAFTS


Contemporary to Quamrul Hassan, Sheikh Mohammad Sultan (1923-1994) was an
alternative artist of this country. As with his lifestyle and behavior, the distinct
unusualness of his character and his ideas of art made him an object of much
attraction. A sphere of mystery and fascination has grown around him. He has
overcome the incompleteness of his academic education through his own exaggeration
of the human body, the attraction of the naïve or unskilled beauty in the unschooled
artist and irrevocable representation of his belief in linear recurrence of the subject
matter. His huge canvases are not the reflection of any scene from reality; they seem
to reflect the internal beliefs of a man entranced in memories and dreams. In his
philosophy of life, just as his lifestyle, Sultan has created all his bonds with nature,
rural Bengal, and humankind and his art is the reflection of this belief. However, urban
training and association did not place him completely in the folk style, his art works
depicting a kind of urban folk art or a mood of popular art. From a gifted portrayer of
scenes of nature in watercolor and oil painting at the beginning, he gradually came to
be known as portrayer of the indomitable human soul in the rural environment.
Despite his similarity with Zainul Abedin’s point of view in this respect, differences
between them can easily be recognized. Zainul Abedin’s leitmotif was his firm
realistic line drawing; moreover, he is close to visible reality created by light and
shade when it comes to application of colors and his paintings are excellent examples
of the technical proficiency of an educated artist. Sultan’s lines and application of
color contains folk ‘coarseness’ and an apparent amateurishness. Folk art- like
recurrence of subject matter, dexterity in composition and the process of using
materials have taken his paintings close to self-taught proficiency and created a shade
of conflict with grammar and the discipline of art education. Despite the lack of
conventional technical skills, Sultan’s paintings are able to create strong attraction and
reaction in the viewers. He made this possible and herein lies his success. His huge
sinewy male and female figures are simultaneously symbols of the bond with the soil
and the indomitable human spirit. He removed the monotonousness of planting
saplings, tilling land, fishing, reaping harvest and other perpetual rural scenes through
the powerful presence of exaggerated human figures. This human figure is primitive,
alert, unrefined, earth’s child representing physical strength. The return of the symbol
of Adam and Eve gives the same hint. The representation of his beliefs is manifested
through the absence of modern elements of civilization in his rural scenes. In paintings
like Grabbing of Rising Land (fig. 1.21), Carrying the Burden, Retrospect, inner
conflicts and mental states have often been reflected. Nevertheless, his characters are
generally not any specific man or woman; they are eternal human symbols carrying
the message of surviving the struggle of life and not giving up. Though Sultan’s
paintings are apparently representations of scenes of reality, they create a fantasy
world far away from the on going reality, arouse man’s expectation of potentiality, and
revive a new consciousness of man’s bond with the country and its soil. Sultan firmly
held on to his dreams and beliefs, and his artworks are a linear representation of the
same beliefs. The harmony between belief and expression has given his artwork

PAINTING 39


candidness and authenticity, which is
his main strength and attraction.
Among the other artists of the forties,
Habibur Rahman (1912-?) completed
his education from the Kolkata Art
School by the thirties and joined the
printmaking department of the same
institute as a teacher in 1937. Habibur
Rahman displayed a high degree of
proficiency in prints in the woodcut
medium. His skill in arranging light
and shade and carving is exemplified
in Shandhyabhajan (Evening Meal),
Pussy and other compositions which
deserve the attention of art
connoisseurs (fig. 3.7). After 1947, the
artist settled in East Pakistan and spent
the rest of his life teaching at the
College of Arts and Crafts. Shafiqul
Amin (1914-?) was a student of
Kolkata Art School
contemporaneously with Zainul Abedin and he participated in the exhibition of All fig. 1.21 S. M. Sultan,
India Academy of Fine Arts. He worked as a teacher for a long time in the College of Grabbing of Rising Land-
Fine Arts and Crafts; however, later he was not very involved in creative artwork. 2, oil on canvas, 1986

2. The Fifties
In 1947, the Indian subcontinent broke the shackles of subordination and gained
independence; thus, two separate and independent nations India and Pakistan started
their journey. The then East Bengal along with a small portion of Assam was annexed
to the state of Pakistan and was later named East Pakistan. Due to the geographical
distance with the other half of Pakistan and also due to the difference in language and
culture, the literature and fine arts of East Pakistan developed independently in its own
way. In addition, due to the discriminatory and inequitable attitude of the Pakistani
rulers the struggle of the inhabitants of East Bengal for self-development and gaining
political-cultural rights began almost at the same time as the founding of Pakistan.
Thus, in contrast to the religion based state spirit, a resistance to the Pakistani
communal cultural idea and an attempt to reflect native tradition in fine arts could be
observed among the people and cultural workers of this region. Along with that, a
young nation that has just gained independence could create a direct connection with
the whole world, which was not possible within the boundaries of the colonial
regulatory system. For the first time our artists could directly experience western art
through travel and opportunities to receive training. The window to the west that was

40 ART AND CRAFTS


closed suddenly opened in front of us. Quite a few artists of the fifties received
scholarships in this period and received long term training in many countries. Through
books, writings, and exhibitions, our artists and students could become familiar to
global art much more intimately and directly. The fifties was also a time for Bengalis
to introspect and develop progressive thinking. A great part of the intellectual and
youth society was attracted to the progressive secular politics and the revival of
indigenous culture. The leading artists of the fifties were also active in this socio-
political movement. As a result, at the first stage of the respective art production of
many of these artists, a political pledge, opinion against social inequity and injustice,
and compassion towards people from the lower segments can be noticed.
It has been mentioned earlier that almost concurrent to the founding of Pakistan, an
institute of art education was established for the first time under the leadership of
Zainul Abedin in 1948. It was the artists who received training in Kolkata during the
forties prior to the partition and the artists who received institutional education in
Dhaka in the fifties who initiated the modern art movement of East Bengal. Few
significant individuals among the people who received training from the art institute
of Dhaka in the fifties and then went on to appear chiefly as painters are Aminul Islam
(1931), Hamidur Rahman (1928-88), Rashid Choudhury (1932-86), Murtaja Baseer
(1932), Abdur Razzaque (1932-2005), Qayyum Chowdhury (1934), Debdas
Chakraborty (1933), Syed Jahangir ((1935), Kazi Abdul Baset (1935-2002), Nitun
Kundu (1935-2006) and others. However, Hamidur Rahman went abroad for training
leaving his studies at Dhaka incomplete. Apart from that, Mohammad Kibria (1929)
completed his education from Kolkata and joined these artists in Dhaka. Among other
contemporary artists, there were Kazi Abdul Rouf (?), Syed Shafiqul Hussain (1927-
), Zunabul Islam (1929-1997), Imdad Hossain (1925-), Mubinul Azim (1934-75),
fig. 1.22 Mohammad Rashid Ahmed (1938-) and many others including Mustafa Monwar (1935-), who was
Kibria, Painting in trained in Kolkata. Many of them gained the opportunity to go abroad for training after
Black, oil, 1975 completing their education. Aminul Islam went to Italy, Rashid Choudhury to Spain
and France, Murtaja Baseer to Italy, Abdur
Razzaque and Abdul Baset went to United States of
America and all of them returned to their native
land upon receiving advanced training on various
branches of fine art. Apart from Hamidur Rahman,
Novera Ahmed also completed her art education
from abroad and started her practice of art in Dhaka
from the fifties. Through the hands of these artists
returning from overseas, various styles and
variations and methods of modern art of the western
world began to be applied liberally in our art. The
most appealing and popular style of art in the art
world of Europe and United States of America
during the fifties was Abstract Expressionism and

PAINTING 41


semi-abstract styles in different forms. The international appearance and appeal of the
abstract style naturally attracted our artists the most and thus among the modern
European styles, abstraction was the style that was the most practiced. Influence of
Cubism and Surrealism can be observed from time to time and inspiration of
individual western artists can also be noticed. Most of the artists of the fifties went
through various stages and then finally settled to pure abstraction. Most of them were
attracted by Cubism and its associated forms in the intermediary periods. Moreover,
influence of various Expressionist modes or Constructivist styles can be noticed in the
works of some artists. Artists who settled with complete abstraction are Mohammad
Kibria, Aminul Islam, Abdur Razzaque, Debdas Chakraborty, Abdul Baset and many
others. Hamidur Rahman and Murtaja Baseer did not fix themselves to a particular
style; they kept roaming between various figurative and semi-abstract approaches and
complete abstraction. The powerful attraction of internationalism in this stage made
many of our leading artists indifferent towards indigenous background and
perspective. Nevertheless, the rich folk art of East Bengal appealed to quite a few
artists in many ways. Apart from senior artist Zainul Abedin, Safiuddin Ahmed, and
Quamrul Hassan, Rashid Choudhury and Qayyum Chowdhury of the fifties looked
towards folk art in an attempt to get inspiration. Rashid Choudhury and Qayyum
Chowdhury and in recent times, another artist from the fifties Murtaja Baseer, have
been carrying on with their attempt to apply folk tradition in the modern mode of art.
Generally, the fifties can be identified as the transitional period for the influence of
international art on our art and the manifestation of the signs of this influence.
Mohammad Kibria is one of the more senior artists of the fifties. He completed his
education from the Kolkata Art School and joined the other contemporary artists in
Dhaka. Kibria received advanced training in painting and printmaking from Japan
during the period of 1959-62. In the context of the practice of painting and
printmaking in Bangladesh, the artist is identified for the traits that are absolutely his
own. Through depiction of abstraction with colored lines and textures, Kibria has
created a world of his own, where secluded, tranquil and subdued manifestation of
imagination have combined with sharpened skills and advanced technical proficiency
of applying colors and creating textures (fig.1.22). Kibria’s artworks during the
primary stage contains the attempt to organize the picture plane in a two dimensional
structure and an attempt to integrate figures through binding them with geometric
shapes and lines. Despite the poetic impressions and romanticism at this stage, his
paintings express the urge of an all-consuming emptiness, disenchantment, and
loneliness. Here, the colors are depressed and cold; the figures are falling and giving
the hint of death. Chandrahata Ghora (Moonstruck Horse), Purnima (Full Moon),
Andha Darshanik (Blind Philosopher) are noteworthy artworks of this period. The
opportunity to go to Japan and receive long term training during the middle stage of
his development was particularly helpful for him. From this training he came to learn
the subtle deep meaning of art, the extension and composition of space, characteristic
diversity and technical expertise of printmaking and the multidimensional

42 ART AND CRAFTS


manifestation of emotion. Kibria came to be more attracted to the composition of the
picture plane and the pure joy of colors, lines and textures rather than the depiction of
objects. In Abstract Expressionism, the then very popular style in the western world,
he observed a style of art that was parallel to his own. However, ‘Action Painting’ or
pure geometry did not appeal to him; Kibria was never inclined to completely abandon
life and nature. Thus, his imagination blossoms and spreads its branches with life as
its base; his forms and structures hint at natural experiences, they are full of life and
can be felt by the senses. Kibria has added to painting and printmaking of Bangladesh
a high degree of technical proficiency on the one hand and a combination of subtle
sensitivity and beauty with proficiency on the other. Throughout the long period of his
loyalty to abstraction inconspicuous changes continued to take place within him. The
gradual brightening of the glow of his colors, gradual movement from opacity to
transparency, greater inclination towards organic shapes instead of the geometric–
these and other tendencies can be identified in this case. However, his fundamental
characteristics do not change all that much– his theme remains tranquil and subtle, his
paintings create a calm apathy at a distance from the commotion of the immediacy of
life. Nevertheless, his paintings contain a human appeal in its compassionate
representation and subtle inner meaning. The language of his painting creates an
attraction for feelings that are perceivable by the senses through its dispersed meaning,
rhetoric and imagery.
Aminul Islam is one of the most senior students of the Art Institute of Dhaka and one
of the distinguished leading artists of the fifties. A fundamental trait of Aminul Islam’s
artistic temperament is the tendency to practice and experiment with various types,
techniques and media of art. Aminul Islam was the first to go overseas for higher
education with a government scholarship; he received education in Florence, Italy
from1953-56. After coming back, he participated in several group exhibitions at home
and abroad and moreover, he organized seven solo exhibitions during the period of
1956-1971. Aminul Islam was drawn towards leftist politics in his youth and a
conscious social obligation can be noticed in his works during the initial stage. This
consciousness is apparent in the naming of Dream of Fishermen, Victims, Hawker and
other artworks. In this stage, he divided the picture plane in geometric shapes, arranged
the figures in a slightly Cubist manner, used distinct and deep geometric outlines. What
Aminul Islam became most conscious of through his connection with the west was the
freedom of lines, colors and shapes from the limitations of representing objects. The
boundless freedom of modern western art inspired him to creating images unfettered
by constraints of representations and it can be said that this inclination remained
permanently as the fundamental tendency of his art practice. At the same time, many
philosophical inquiries regarding human life and the cosmos caused him to
contemplate; he attempted to create an explanation of these inquiries within the
boundaries of art– thus his exploration though various experimentation continued. He
felt the essence of art within abstraction; nevertheless, figures sometimes return,
sometimes broken mirrors are used, sometimes collage is used. The naming of his

PAINTING 43


series paintings also expresses this
philosophical ardor, for example–
Transformation (fig. 1.23), Sphere etc.
Aminul Islam’s artworks started to
show a tendency towards abstraction
from the year 1956. It can be said that
he started his journey into composing
completely abstract images from late
1960s. Up till 1970, his practice in
painting progressed more or less in the
same trend. From the semi-geometrical
and semi-abstract, he progressed
towards pure abstraction– towards an
aesthetic arrangement of colors, lines
and shapes. This arrangement is an
attempt at pictorial beauty which is
parallel to musical beat, tempo and
rhythm, which may remind us of Kandinsky as a comparison. Simultaneously life and fig. 1.23 Aminul Islam,
the universe, man’s position in the context of the cosmos made him ponder. The Transformation-3,
manifestation of all these occurred in the Transformation series during the sixties. acrylic, 1967
Clustered forms, texture, and brightness of light create a cosmos like environment. The
independence war of Bangladesh stirred him and to express his response to it he left
the world of abstraction and again turned to representational style– in a few collages he
depicted the horror of absolute destruction. Moreover, he created a few paintings in the
Surrealist style where he attempted to capture contemporary times through various
symbols and signs. From1974 Aminul Islam composed a few paintings by attaching
broken pieces of glass to the canvass. This is also a kind of self-discovery and
questioning of life. The artist has seen his own distorted and broken image in the pieces
of broken mirror and seems to be expressing the alternate personality within the
individual. In Sphere, another series of the same period, a centralized circular form
implies the state of motion of the revolving universe. His questions regarding life
appear again and again through the explosion, gyration and other symbols. Starting
from the beginning of the nineties in the Fungus series paintings and the use of dancing
lines in more recent times are also manifestations of the two key themes of Aminul
Islam’s thoughts on art. One is the consideration of the pictorial plane– an attempt to
unify colors, lines and shapes. The other is his questioning of life– the urge to
determine the position of earth and man in the cosmic context. Aminul Islam has
composed a few important murals in the fresco and mosaic method. Among these, the
ones in the Bangladesh Bank building, Holy Cross College, Secretariat, Osmani
Memorial Auditorium, BCIC building, Janata Bank etc. are worth mentioning.
Hamidur Rahman is a restless, determined, extremely individualistic and perceptive
artist. He is always eager to break the shackles of conventionality, always

44 ART AND CRAFTS


uncompromisingly vocal in support of
new styles in art and against
conservatism. His restlessness in the
quest for ways in art combined with his
hyperactive nature does not create any
particular characteristic in his
artworks, rather they remain as
fragmented emanations of an inspired
and excited creative mind. Hamidur
Rahman’s temperament is
unconventional and individualistic, in
fact he is one of the front line soldiers
in initiating new trends of art in East
Pakistan. In his study of painting,
Hamidur Rahman has remained ever
absorbed in experimenting with
fig. 1.24 Hamidur various diverse approaches. Which is why he has practiced in various styles, as he has
Rahman, Flute Player, brought diversity in the use of materials – use of sand, printing ink are examples of
oil, 1956 this diversity. Despite this diversity, his major tendency is towards the representational
(fig. 1.24) and Abstract Expressionism. This expression has sometimes progressed
towards the geometric composition of shapes, sometimes an inclination towards
clusters of color and texture, while sometimes calligraphic lines have played the main
role. Whenever he has moved towards abstraction, he has used lines which are
recognizably oriental in character. Image of the wounded, anguished modern human
mind is captured in his artwork, which is sometimes expressed in a horrifying way. As
far as murals are concerned, Hamidur Rahman deserves the honor of one of the
leading pioneers in this country. The total number of murals created by him in various
buildings in Bangladesh and Pakistan is more than any other artist of this country. The
mural painting that he created in the Dhaka University library during 1957-58 is still
a significant artwork in this field. Among the other mural paintings, the central
Shaheed Minar, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Bank of America buildings in
Karachi, Commonwealth Institute Gallery in England, and the Janata and Uttara Bank
buildings in London can be mentioned. It is in mural painting where Hamidur Rahman
has shown greatest dexterity. Here the manifestation of emotion is restrained and the
two-dimensionality and architectonic properties of mural painting can be observed.
Along with Novera Ahmed he has jointly designed the historical Shaheed Minar
commemorating the Language Movement. In later times, this monument has been
hugely appreciated and Shaheed Minars have been built in every corner of the country
resembling this design in various forms.
As Rashid Choudhury is different from his contemporaries in terms of the style of his
art, similarly his distinctive characteristic is manifested in his use of medium; apart
from oil painting, he has worked with tempera, gouache and other not so prevalent

PAINTING 45


media. However, he gains his key distinctiveness as an artist in the tapestry medium,
and to date, he is the only example to have used this medium creatively in this country.
Rashid Choudhury is positioned at the opposite pole from the contemporary artists
returning from overseas. Western training has almost irrespectively inspired the artists
of the fifties to merge with the international trend of art through practicing abstraction.
Although Rashid Choudhury accepted the abstract composition of the pictorial plane
from his western training, he has returned to Bengal’s folk traditions as its source.
However, his search for tradition has not followed the way of the dolls, pata or crafts
of Bengal, rather it has come from the source of the form of idols and of fairy tales,
folk tales, punthis, and panchalis (fig. 1.25). With this he has tried to combine
composition of colors from folk art and the two-dimensional composition,
manifestation of light and shade and artistic skills obtained from western education. In
his early days as an artist, Rashid Choudhury was deeply influenced by Mark
Chagall’s style of art and this has had a significant effect in the formulation of his
artistic consciousness. Even in the early stages he gradually cut off directness and
began to move in imagination and dreams. Like Chagall, the houses, men, animals,
trees in his paintings began to acquire a floating appearance and childhood filled with
memories of fairy tales and stories continuously haunted his subject matter. Western
training made him aware of the form of the picture plane; of balancing of the
interaction among points, lines, scratches etc. with intelligence within the two-
dimensional confines of the pictorial surface; and of the technique of analyzing forms fig. 1.25 Rashid
and motifs. His painting has also been affected by his practice in the tapestry medium. Choudhury,
The subject matter of tapestry appears through fragments of shape created by the Shyamangini, oil, 1985
intersection of vertical and horizontal threads, a characteristic
that can be observed in his paintings. Nevertheless, it is in the
tapestry medium where Rashid Choudhury has left the mark of
his distinctiveness. Although he achieved a complete idea and
knowledge of this medium during his stay in the west, he has
infused indigenous uniqueness in its application– in the use of
indigenous materials as with the technique of color composition
and creation of designs. Indigenous forms in two-dimensional
context are displayed on the surface of his tapestries in fragments
and in a glow of light. Here, the ancient and eternal nature of
Bengal appears in an indistinct world of men, plants and animals.
Rashid Choudhury’s accomplishment in building a way of
modern art through combining the western and eastern approach
to art is worth mentioning.
One of the major divergent and perceptive artists of the fifties is
Murtaja Baseer. Within him was also the temperament to go
beyond conventions, the urge to express the self through various
media and through the practice of different styles of art. Thus

46 ART AND CRAFTS


Murtaja Baseer not only created paintings, murals, prints and sculptures, he also
explored the realms of literature, filmmaking and research. His creativity reflects an
ever-changing and inquisitive mind, thus he has worked with various representational
and abstract styles at different points of time. The subject of most of the paintings by
him during the period of 1954-60 was a simplified reality of the everyday middle class
and lower-middle class life. Each painting is purposefully composed and organized in
a geometric measure, the artist’s attention to line and space is meticulous– the
inspiration of Cubism is clearly evident. From 1959, Murtaja Baseer’s lines became
transparent and revealed even the internal structure of objects. The clash and counter
clash within intersecting transparent planes create a firm image structure which gives
his paintings a powerful harmony. From 1960-61, Murtaja Baseer began to be drawn
towards complete abstraction, the full outcome of which can be observed in his Wall
series of painting executed during the period of 1967-72. The conflicting colors and
clustered textures here reflect an agitated state of mind and it reveals the frustration and
mental suffering of the artist. The subsequent Epitaph for the Martyrs series is an
example of his exploration of abstraction. In subsequent times, Murtaja Baseer has
brought back representational subjects to his canvas; these were created by using lines
and application of bright flat colors influenced by folk art. In very recent times, the
artist has captured the radiance of the colors of butterfly wings (fig. 1.26) on his canvas
through his original compositions. Apart from painting, Murtaja Baseer is one of the
major mural painters of this country. Geometric composition and two-dimensional
structure of the pictorial surface, which is also a key feature of his painting, and his
skills in line drawing have given his mural paintings an artistic authenticity and high
degree of technical proficiency. Mudrar Bibartan (Evolution of currency) in the
Bangladesh Bank building done in 1966 in oil painting and the Martyrs Tree mosaic in
fig. 1.26 Murtaja Rajshahi University done in 1974 with pieces of burnt brick can be mentioned in this
Baseer, Wing-2, oil, context. He also did some distinctive work as a printmaker.
1994 Abdur Razzaque has practiced in all the three media: painting, sculpture, and
printmaking. His stay in United States in the fifties within the environment of recent
trends in art brought him close to a different
realization of modern art. Subsequently he
kept on moving towards Abstract
Expressionism and his attempts in art in
various media were unified in this trend. His
painting mainly comes from nature. He
wishes to express the familiar look of nature
in a truth greater then reality where the
external structures become nonexistent and
only the fundamental colors in their different
degrees of radiance and only the resonance
of moving-glittering of light and shadow
remain. Although his paintings emerge from

PAINTING 47


reality, they eventually represent an abstract composition derived from
the collection of various shapes, colors and dimensions (fig. 1.27).
Qayyum Chowdhury is prominent among the people whose
consciousness of tradition has revolved around and was shaped by folk
art. However, he has differences with his contemporary Rashid
Choudhury in this context. Rashid Choudhury has searched for
tradition in the objects of rural life, in sculpture, in stories and
memories of childhood; and he portrays it in symbolic representation.
On the other hand, the subject matter of folk art is not important to
Qayyum Chowdhury, he extracts the motifs and designs from the
subject and uses them in his own context. Wherever decoration of folk
art are vividly present– hand fans, nakshi kantha, alpana, dolls made of
clay and wood, handicrafts made from bamboo and cane, the prow of
boats or the moulds for pithas (sweetmeats), the borders of saris–all
these becomes a source of his inspiration. He integrates the geometry of
folk designs on the two-dimensional picture plane and he uses this
traditional form and design in the context of an abstract composition.
The natural world is the fundamental image of his subject matter. He
collects elements from the nature of Bengal as well. He arranges trees, leaves, the sun,
birds, boats, footbridges made of bamboo and other ever lasting elements of the nature
of Bengal in a geometric arrangement of his own and creates his own geometric
patterns weaving together the motifs and designs of folk art. His earlier palette is
subdued and soft which brings visual calmness and lyricism(fig. 1.28). The close
association of the boat and fishnet is his favorite subject and the eye drawn on the prow
of boats is his favorite symbol. The mass movement of sixty-nine and the Liberation
War of seventy-one stirred him deeply and due to this, a significant change took place
in his subject matter. Contemporaneity was added to the unchanging traditionalism of
subject matter; processions, revolution, burning village, death etc. appeared. This stage
shows a new dimension in his application of colors, here colors have been used as
independent elements to a large extent, the designs woven around the pictorial surface
is reduced. The gradual development of this tendency can be observed in the paintings
Shaishab Smriti (Memories of
Childhood), My Village. In
Qayyum Chowdhury’s latest
paintings, the colors have become fig. 1.27 (top) Abdur
extremely bright and vivid, Razzaque, Garden-1,
traditional motifs and designs have oil, 1992
been reduced to mere suggestions;
the composition has become more fig. 1.28 (bottom)
spontaneous and effortless. Qayyum Chowdhury,
Riverscape, oil, 1986