Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, One of the greatest artists of Bangladesh

Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, who set up the Government Institute of Arts and Crafts (now Institute of Fine Arts) in 1948 in Dhaka, pioneer of modern art movement in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was born in Kishoreganj, East Bengal on 29 December 1914. He used to sit near the river Brahmaputra and got the inspiration of the open nature at his childhood. He admitted himself into Calcutta Government Art School in 1933 then after completing that In 1938, he joined the faculty of the Art School.

In his early life he used to make his paintings on rural life in Bangladesh.

And the hardships

Then after the Great Famine of Bengal in 1943, his heart was changed. He then started making paintings on the famine.

The art museum of Zainul Abedin is in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Established in 1975. Name of the museum is "Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Sangrahashala" meaning : "Great Teacher of the Arts" Zainul Abedin "Art Gallery". There are currently 53 oil paintings in the archive. The collection includes various themes and subjects, though most depict scenes of rural Bengal. Besides the original paintings, there are 16 replicas, and 75 photographs on Zainul's life and works. There are also 69 mementos on display such as brushes, brush holder, bottles of turpentine and linseed oil, carbon box, charcoal, wax, colour palette, colour tube, easel, ink pot, leather portrait holder, metal clip, reed pen, scraper, spatula, and his spectacles.

This great artist was also involved in the 'Bengali Language Movement' of East Pakistan as well as the 'Bangladesh liberation war' movement.

Painting on Bangladesh Liberation war, 1971

He developed lung cancer in his later life and died on 28 May 1976 in Dhaka