Zainul Abedin
| Zainul Abedin | |
|---|---|
Abedin in 1955
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| Native name | জয়নুল আবেদিন |
| Born |
29 December 1914 Kishoreganj, East Bengal, British India (now Bangladesh) |
| Died | 28 May 1976 (aged 61) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Education | |
| Known for | Painting, drawing |
| Notable work |
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Zainul Abedin (29 December 1914 – 28 May 1976) was a Bengali painter. He got the break through in 1944 with his Famine Series paintings of 1943. After partition he moved to Pakistan; and finally when Bangladesh was created in 1971, he was rightly considered by Syed Manzoorul Islam as the founding father of Bangladeshi modern art. In 1948 he helped establish the Institute of Arts and Crafts (now Faculty of Fine Arts) at Dhaka University.The Indian Express described him as a Legendary Bangladeshi painter. Like many of his contemporaries, his paintings on the Bengal famine of 1943 is probably his most characteristic work. He was given the title Shilpacharya (Great Teacher of the Arts) in Bangladesh for his artistic and visionary qualities.
Abedin was born in Kishoreganj, East Bengal on 29 December 1914. Much of his childhood was spent near the scenic banks of the Brahmaputra river. The Brahmaputra would later appear in many of his paintings and be a source of inspiration all throughout his career. Many of his works framed Brahmaputra and a series of watercolors that Abedin did as his tribute to the river earned him the Governor's Gold Medal in an all-India exhibition in 1938. This was the first time when he came under spotlight and this award gave Abedin the confidence to create his own visual style.
In 1933, Abedin was admitted to Calcutta Government Art School in Calcutta. Here for five years he learned British/ European academic style and later he joined the faculty of the same school after his graduation. He was the first Muslim student to obtain first class distinction from the school. He was dissatisfied with the oriental style and the limitations of European academic style and this led him towards realism. He was the pioneer of the modern art movement that took place in Bangladesh. In 1948 he, with the help of few of his colleagues, founded an art institute in Dhaka. Back then, there were no art institutes present in Dhaka. It was considered the best art institute in Pakistan during its early years. He worked in the Pakistani government for a while. He taught at the institute and among his students was Pakistani artist Mansur Rahi. He also taught Bangladeshi artist Mohammad Kibria.
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