ART
Of Tears, Toil and Passion
According to Hironmoy Chandan the artist is at first influenced by his academic training. An artist then tries to bring a lot of his emotions and feelings in his work. No one can limit his imagination. His experience and his teachers, along with the books on art that he has studied has all contributed to his work. At times, it is to get out of the pain of existence that he paints.
His works often evoke the vibrancy of folk motifs painted in bold colours and precise lines, exuding a sense of joy and excitement. His black and white sketches meanwhile, have a darkness about them, there is movement as well as a hint of violence.
"I am also influenced by the paintings I've seen in books, films and galleries. At times an artist paints so as to get out of the rut of existence. At times he wants to forget the sweat, toil and harness of his existence. At times some good feelings are involved, such as love, affection, peace and harmony of domestic bliss. If only evil and the wrong-doing comes to my mind. I cannot exist. I need some measure of tranquillity to survive."
Asked to give his opinion of the artists in the past—like Van Gogh, Matisse, Leonardo da Vinci, Michel Angelo—their decoration of the Sistine Chapel and Pablo Picasso with his well-known “Guernica”, Hironmoy says, “the painters succumbed to the patrons. They did not have complete freedom in their painting. Often one feels that the painter has departed from his vision and goal in order to please the patron, who was backing him up financially. In case of artists like Van Gogh, their feelings were so forceful, that one can feel the frustration in the disc of the sun and the waving Cyprus trees.
How does he feel about Picasso needing the inspiration of so many women to complete his work? "It is his personal matter," says Hironmoy. "Whatever inspired him—good or evil—at least it egged him on to paint in a new manner and added joie de vivre in his work. I feel that his desire to bring in the peaceful vision of the contented young woman always haunted him. We hear that the Russian ballet dancer whom he was smitten with who was much younger than him, but who married him was the closest in physical appearance to his ideal woman: full of tranquillity and joy. We can't exist with only anger and hatred. Our feelings of contentment are sometimes obvious in some of our work--- as painters.
“That which appeals to one is always straight to the heart—like the compositions of Rafiqun Nabi at the Dhaka Art Centre today. We get pleasure in just the restful times of the fishermen and labourers—some playing cards, some putting a tune to the flute—and others simply resting after their toil. Thus there is enjoyment in work and struggle. His concept of animals and birds getting together are also shown with the spirit of joy and harmony. There is contentment in the depictions of nature and man—as Nietzsche saw it, and poured out his thoughts over it.
“The artist, satisfies both his benefactor and well-wisher and himself , in great art , One could say this of Rubens, Reynolds, Turner and any great mind – who was spontaneous and yet had so much of depth in his lines , colours and forms.
The focus of the artist keeps the sun, millet and the Cyprus ---was all that Van Gogh could keep in mind—so fierce was his passion. Gauguin was also restless , in his delineation the nudes, he was searching – he obviously kept the nudes of the past by the Renaissance painters—who showed the face, derriere swan-like neck and so on, says Hironmoy. "Gauguin's nudes do not appear like nudes they merge with Nature. Once you decorate Nature, it becomes artificial like clipped hedges and trees in the shape of birds and animals. Gauguin lived in the city, as such, and his retreat to Tahiti, was his search for untouched beauty."
"In making roads and buildings," says Hironmoy, "we are covering the water, pebbles of Mother Nature, and covering all with cement – to match the cement jungle all around. In displaying Nature with its beautiful simplicity, he does what SM. Sultan did at Norail, Bangladesh. SM Sultan, we are told, lived with birds, snakes, and other animals. The village girls in SM Sultan were semi-clad , as that is how village girls tend to be—very open even their clothing – as in Tahiti, in Gauguin's time."
Qamrul Hassan, Zainul Abedin, Shafiuddin Ahmed and Mohammed Kibria—what was the impact of their death for you – did it not leave a large yawning gap?
"The horizon of Bangladeshi art developed around them," says Hironmoy. "They could very easily have stayed on at Kolkata—and not have ventured forth like pioneers in the land of Red Indians—to face tomahawks and poisoned arrows. In Europe and the US it is our art alone which has excelled – and it is these pioneers, who have laid the foundation and led the way of success the places like Poland and the UK. Has the government and even the Shilpakala Academy given due respect to these artists nonpareil—who have shown the path to success? The new generation of painters are bound to influenced by Bangladeshi artists like Qamrul Hassan, Shafiuddin Ahmed and Mohammed Kibria. Their struggle went into making a Bangali nation. The angry eyes in Safiuddin's work speak loudly against the Pak army in 1971.
Who were his teachers and his colleagues? Hironmoy says,” “Asok Karmakar, who does installation, Zahid Mustafa, who also writes, and Lalarukh Selim (Tori) – who is a university professor, and Mahbub. Lalarukh and Tawfique make a good combination. One is a fine artist the other is an excellent sculptor. The life of an artist tends to be complex in most cases. As for me, if I put aside my family and children—and not go in for book illustration for a living—I too could have had many solos to my credit.”
"I am also influenced by the paintings I've seen in books, films and galleries. At times an artist paints so as to get out of the rut of existence. At times he wants to forget the sweat, toil and harness of his existence. At times some good feelings are involved, such as love, affection, peace and harmony of domestic bliss. If only evil and the wrong-doing comes to my mind. I cannot exist. I need some measure of tranquillity to survive."
Asked to give his opinion of the artists in the past—like Van Gogh, Matisse, Leonardo da Vinci, Michel Angelo—their decoration of the Sistine Chapel and Pablo Picasso with his well-known “Guernica”, Hironmoy says, “the painters succumbed to the patrons. They did not have complete freedom in their painting. Often one feels that the painter has departed from his vision and goal in order to please the patron, who was backing him up financially. In case of artists like Van Gogh, their feelings were so forceful, that one can feel the frustration in the disc of the sun and the waving Cyprus trees.
How does he feel about Picasso needing the inspiration of so many women to complete his work? "It is his personal matter," says Hironmoy. "Whatever inspired him—good or evil—at least it egged him on to paint in a new manner and added joie de vivre in his work. I feel that his desire to bring in the peaceful vision of the contented young woman always haunted him. We hear that the Russian ballet dancer whom he was smitten with who was much younger than him, but who married him was the closest in physical appearance to his ideal woman: full of tranquillity and joy. We can't exist with only anger and hatred. Our feelings of contentment are sometimes obvious in some of our work--- as painters.
“That which appeals to one is always straight to the heart—like the compositions of Rafiqun Nabi at the Dhaka Art Centre today. We get pleasure in just the restful times of the fishermen and labourers—some playing cards, some putting a tune to the flute—and others simply resting after their toil. Thus there is enjoyment in work and struggle. His concept of animals and birds getting together are also shown with the spirit of joy and harmony. There is contentment in the depictions of nature and man—as Nietzsche saw it, and poured out his thoughts over it.
“The artist, satisfies both his benefactor and well-wisher and himself , in great art , One could say this of Rubens, Reynolds, Turner and any great mind – who was spontaneous and yet had so much of depth in his lines , colours and forms.
The focus of the artist keeps the sun, millet and the Cyprus ---was all that Van Gogh could keep in mind—so fierce was his passion. Gauguin was also restless , in his delineation the nudes, he was searching – he obviously kept the nudes of the past by the Renaissance painters—who showed the face, derriere swan-like neck and so on, says Hironmoy. "Gauguin's nudes do not appear like nudes they merge with Nature. Once you decorate Nature, it becomes artificial like clipped hedges and trees in the shape of birds and animals. Gauguin lived in the city, as such, and his retreat to Tahiti, was his search for untouched beauty."
"In making roads and buildings," says Hironmoy, "we are covering the water, pebbles of Mother Nature, and covering all with cement – to match the cement jungle all around. In displaying Nature with its beautiful simplicity, he does what SM. Sultan did at Norail, Bangladesh. SM Sultan, we are told, lived with birds, snakes, and other animals. The village girls in SM Sultan were semi-clad , as that is how village girls tend to be—very open even their clothing – as in Tahiti, in Gauguin's time."
Qamrul Hassan, Zainul Abedin, Shafiuddin Ahmed and Mohammed Kibria—what was the impact of their death for you – did it not leave a large yawning gap?
"The horizon of Bangladeshi art developed around them," says Hironmoy. "They could very easily have stayed on at Kolkata—and not have ventured forth like pioneers in the land of Red Indians—to face tomahawks and poisoned arrows. In Europe and the US it is our art alone which has excelled – and it is these pioneers, who have laid the foundation and led the way of success the places like Poland and the UK. Has the government and even the Shilpakala Academy given due respect to these artists nonpareil—who have shown the path to success? The new generation of painters are bound to influenced by Bangladeshi artists like Qamrul Hassan, Shafiuddin Ahmed and Mohammed Kibria. Their struggle went into making a Bangali nation. The angry eyes in Safiuddin's work speak loudly against the Pak army in 1971.
Who were his teachers and his colleagues? Hironmoy says,” “Asok Karmakar, who does installation, Zahid Mustafa, who also writes, and Lalarukh Selim (Tori) – who is a university professor, and Mahbub. Lalarukh and Tawfique make a good combination. One is a fine artist the other is an excellent sculptor. The life of an artist tends to be complex in most cases. As for me, if I put aside my family and children—and not go in for book illustration for a living—I too could have had many solos to my credit.”
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