Undiscovered Sultan paintings

Undiscovered Sultan paintings

Faruque Hasan, Alaol Avenue, Uttara, Dhaka

I had a senior friend from Old Dhaka who died a few years back. He told me about fifteen years ago that quite a few number of paintings of the master painter SM Sultan were lying in the storeroom of their house. The story was like this: his father was a friend of poet Jasimuddin. One day the poet along with Sultan came to their house, and Jasimuddin requested my friend's father whether he could provide lodging to Sultan in his house. My friend's father agreed. At that time the painter did not attain fame. During his stay in that house, Sultan did a few paintings. One day he suddenly left that house, leaving behind those paintings, and in the later period he never asked for those. When my friend was alive, I wanted to have a look at those paintings. But it is unfortunate that I could not make time to do that. Perhaps, the younger brother of my friend still lives there as it is their ancestral house. An initiative may be taken to bring those paintings to light, if those are still lying in that storeroom.