Something new, something old

Fishing, S M Sultan

Zainul Abedin's sketch had two beggar boys with distended stomach and thin spindly legs bearing an extended bowl. Quamrul Hassan's sketch had a poem which he had written himself in a circular motif. This was decorated with figures of humans, birds, fish and animals. Rashid Chowdhury's "Freedom", a lithograph, had a tiger, deer, crocodile and a cow along with humans carrying torches and flags. S M Sultan's drawing of "Fishing" showed men and women in the village going about their chores. The countryside with fields, houses and skies had been brought in. Abstractions by Safiuddin Ahmed and Mohammed Kibria had also been included.

Rafiqun Nabi's woodcut, "Windy noon" presented strokes of black which stood for the trunks and branches of the trees, with shades of green which brought in the foliage. In between were subtle streaks of pink. Below was the water where the paper had been left blank and on that space were outlines of resting boats. The variations of the green went well with the black, creating a scene of peace and harmony by the riverside. Monirul Islam's "Angel" was almost an abstraction with swirls of white, pink and black surrounded by blossoms of red poppies in front. Swirls of pale green with dark centres covered the semicircle at the back and on that was the expanse of the blue sky. This was found on a setting of gray green which held up the dream-like image. Shahabuddin's "Figure" was a seated human figure with the head leaning over with the hair falling down, arms folded.

"October 2001", oil, by Qayyum Chowdhury had figures of men, women and children, caught in a turmoil, trying to escape but unable to do so. In between were figures of animals like tigers and snakes. The figures were held in geometrical outlines of gray, green, orange and red. The bodies were in orange, brown and gray while the background brought in beige and red. The human forms merged with the fish, snake and tiger. Mahmudul Haque's "Red and black", in oil, was a vest expanse of red on which were splashes of black with texture work including motifs of crosses, semicircles, curls, dots, squares and minute pigments which were scattered all over. The red in between the blocks of rectangles had combined with blue and yellow in certain parts.

Muniruzzaman's "The bird" brought in a pigeon sketched in different colours, with streaks of blue, orange, beige, surrounded by gray and black curls and sweeps. Splashes of gray and green all around suggested water. The beak, wings, eye and the feet of the bird were clear although they appeared to be suggestions at first. Abdus Sattar's "Three faces" brought the cupid lips, Grecian noses and limpid eyes of three women, one being in blue and grayish pink, the other in deeper blue and orange and the third in pink, blue and orange. Calligraphy in blue and gold had been included at the top and bottom in rectangular pieces.

"Game" by Ahmed Nazir, a woodcut, had figures in traditional flowing courtly clothes. They appeared to be playing knots and crosses which were illustrated in the centre of the composition. Designs of petals and geometrical shapes were brought in too. In Konak Chanpa's "Music in life" brought in two figures, that of a woman bending down and a man beside her, both playing musical instruments to usher in festivities. These were obviously tribal people, going by their facial features and garbs, the heavy silver jewelry and the drinking gourds that surrounded them. The festive element was heightened by the gay buntings included at the back. The woman was in blue and green while her male counterpart was in red and green. The startling sky at the back was in masses of gold, orange and pink -- as if it were made of beaten gold.

Samarjit Rai Chowdhury's "Image" in oil brought in a tree with its branches and trunk in black and in between were motifs done in different geometrical shapes and sizes, mostly rectangular and triangular, in pinks and blue on black, with touches of beige and tracing of blue. On the background is a splash of yellow ochre, burnt sienna and blue presenting a startling image of trees against skies. K M Mithu's "Flower vase" in oil had a 3-D effect due to the corrugated sheet that had been painted over to bring in the ground and the vase with its yellow and red flowers and splashes of bright leaves, that had been sketched in. The background had sweeps of white, mauve, blue and yellow.

"Hilly girl", an oil by Ranjit Das, had a tribal girl blowing into an enormous horn. Whether it be the main figure or the background, the work bore the effect of dots scattered all over in red, brown, orange and a strong streak of blue in the centre. The woman decked with heavy silver jewelry and was a radiant example of happiness and contentment. Naima Haque's "Lonely" was a water colour image of a woman with her head tilted to one side. She was in green and had outlines of black curls and red sweeps of colours to form the sari. Nasreen Begum's portrait in indigo brought in the depiction of a beautiful woman as most of her works do, with large eyes and trailing hair.

It was an impressive collection of the works of most of our best known artists although the exhibition had no apparent cohesive theme apart from the delineation of beauty in most cases.