Verve and Intensity of Experience in the works of Zainul Abedin,
Chittaprosad Bhattacharya and Somnath Hore

Preeti Kathuria

A few young artists felt the exigency to react to the appalling reality of human suffering in Bengal in the 1940s. Zainul Abedin (1914-76), Chittaprosad Bhattacharya (1915–78) and Somnath Hore (1921-2006) worked tirelessly amidst the perils of life and captured traumatic experiences they faced during the Japanese bombings in 1942, the Bengal famine and the Second World War in 1943 and then the communal riots of 1946. The decade of 1940s witnessed the emergence of a very different mode of artistic consciousness which emphasized socially susceptive content, directly addressing the pressing concerns of the time.

Zainul Abedin (b. 1914, Mymensing) is seen as the founder of modern art in Bangladesh. Abedin studied painting at the Government School of Art in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and was appointed as a teacher in the same school even before completing his graduation. In 1943, he produced a series of thought-provoking sketches depicting the Bengal Famine, in which millions of people perished and his vivid depictions brought him instant fame and appreciation. He pioneered the art movement in Bangladesh by establishing the first Art College in Dhaka in 1948. His indigenous realism, coupled with incessant social inquiry and protest, proved vital in Bangladesh’s history of art and culture. “Abedin did more than just make art; he wanted art to permeate all our lives” (Falvo, 2012, p.6).