Tapestry of an artist's life
Takir Hossain is fascinated by a biography
The work emerged from Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy quite a while ago. Art aficionados have enjoyed Murtaja Baseer's painting from 1950 and all the way up to 2003. Baseer's major specialty is painting and drawing and it is this inclination which has helped him to hold his position in the forefront of the Bangladeshi art scene. But his profound grasp and expression regarding other mediums are equally praiseworthy. He is exceedingly fond of experimenting and trying out new forms and techniques. To search for fresh themes and present them with a novel approach is one of his characteristics. The book has mainly focused on Baseer's major works of the last sixty years. The photographic quality is remarkable and encompasses many horizons. Hasnat Abdul Hye has written the only essay in this book. The article is thought-provoking and cerebrally enlightening. Hye has known the artist long and so could easily interpret the artist's life. Murtaja Baseer has carved a path distinctly his own in our art arena with significant lines, forms and themes. Baseer joined Dacca Government Institute of Arts as a student in 1949 after the establishment of the institute the previous year. At the Arts Institute, Baseer developed a bonding with Aminul Islam, who was a year senior to him. Both shared certain political beliefs and values. Artists Rashid Choudhury, Quayum Chowdhury and Abdur Razzaque and prominent lyricist Altaf Mahmood were his batch mates. Baseer came under the influence of left politics when he was a student of class nine in 1947. He became a member of the student wing of the communist party. In 1950, he was arrested while putting up a party poster on a wall. After five months in prison, he was released. After appearing in the final examination in 1954, Baseer went to Calcutta to attend an art appreciation course at the Ashutosh Museum. On returning from Calcutta, Baseer taught at Nawabpur Government High School, Dhaka, as an art teacher for a short time. He decided to go to Florence for higher studies in 1956 but his father wanted him to go to Paris. Baseer preferred Florence because Aminul Islam was already studying there. His father agreed to pay for all expenses for his study in Florence for two years. But before Baseer reached Florence, Islam had left. Baseer was disappointed and depressed, but gradually he settled down in the city of the Renaissance. In 1958, his first solo exhibition was held in Florence. After two years in Florence, Baseer left Italy for London, where he worked for the BBC Bengali Service as a broadcaster. Baseer returned home from London after six months. His mother was seriously ill and his father told him to come home. After returning to Dhaka, he started looking for a job. Finding no employment in Dhaka, he went off to Karachi. He came in contact with Mr. Watson, the Director of American Friends of the Middle East. In 1959, he invited Murtaja Baseer to organise a solo exhibition in Karachi. His next exhibition was held in Dhaka in 1959. That year, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the famous Urdu poet, came to Dhaka. They had met each other in London. Faiz proposed organising a Baseer solo exhibition in Lahore. In 1960, Pakistan Arts Council, Lahore organised the exhibition; it earned Baseer much acclaim. The year 1962 was a remarkable year in Baseer's life. That year, he got married. In 1971, Baseer left the country for Paris with his family. Baseer stayed in Paris till June 1973. During those years, he studied mosaic and etching at Beaux Arts, a recognised arts institute. In 1973, he returned to Dhaka and joined Chittagong University as an assistant professor. This was the first full time job in his life. It gave him a steady income and freed his family of worry. In 1975, he received the Shilpakala Academy Award and in 1980 the Ekushey Padak. Baseer's creativity has spanned other areas as well. He wrote the story and screenplay of the Urdu film Karwan in 1963. He worked as a screenplay writer, art director and chief assistant director in the Bangla film Nadi O Nari in 1964 and as art director for the Urdu movie Kaise Kahoon in 1965. Baseer published Kancher Pakhir Gaan, a collection of short stories, in 1969. He has a number of collections of poetry. Ultramarine is one of his Bengali novels, published in 1979.
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