Celebrating Rembrandt

Works by Abdus Shakoor Shah (L) and Ahmed Shamsuddoha(Top), Award-winning paintings (top 3) by students of IFA(Bottom). PHOTO: STAR

To celebrate the master painter's 400th birth anniversary, The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangladesh in association with Society for Promotion of Bangladesh Art (SPBA) has organised an art exhibition. The exhibition titled Rembrandt 400 was inaugurated by Fritz Meijndert, Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy of Netherlands at Art & Soul Gallery in Gulshan on December 6. Among other distinguished guests were Anjan Chowdhury, managing director of Square Consumer Products and a member of SPBA.

Chairman of SPBA, Eltham B Kabir said, "Besides the exhibition, as part of the 'Rembrandt 400' celebration, workshops for both senior Bangladeshi artistes and students of Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) and lectures were held." The lectures were conducted by René Klarenbeek, artist and initiator of the 'Rembrandt Pupil Project'.

Five notable works by students of IFA -- MM Maizuddin, Ishrat Zahan, Shamir Ahmed Hemel, Sadek Ahmed and Md Zakir-Us-Salam -- were awarded at the inauguration.

The young artistes shared what Rembrandt means to them. According to them, Rembrandt, often called the 'father of impressionism', created a legacy of personal interpretations with his use of chiaroscuro (the theatrical employment of light and shadow derived from Caravaggio) and experimented with many techniques that formed the basic ideas of modern art. To these artistes, Rembrandt's oil paintings and etchings remain an inspiration and that is evident in their work. Also on display are works by their fellow IFA students.

Paintings by noted artists who also participated in a workshop, are included at the exhibition. Muhammad Kibria, Hashem Khan, Murtaja Baseer, Abdus Shakoor Shah, Chandra Shekhar, Ranjit Das, Naima Haque, Farida Zaman, Rokeya Sultana and others have created artworks with the celebration in mind.

René Klarenbeek shared his views on the workshops, lectures and exhibition. Klarenbeek wants to reinstate the tradition of self-study by thoroughly studying and copying the works and working techniques of the master-of-choice. Through his lectures he demonstrated old methods, use of original materials and the spirit of Rembrandt's artistic production.

About the unique Bangladeshi style, Klarenbeek says, "It's quite profound. Some paintings naturally differ from what's known as traditional European art. However, some works feature universal elements or styles." Regarding his experience in Bangladesh, he says, "I didn't know what to expect. So, the experience was pleasantly surprising. I'm impressed with the personal and artistic language of the local artists."

With an impressive collection of new and traditional ideas, luminous and subdued paintings the exhibition seems to be a rousing event.

The exhibition will continue till December 12.