The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

"Although he was at home in varied art forms, Nitun Kundu was essentially a brilliant modern painter. In the sixties he enlivened the cultural movement then taking shape in this country with his dedicated activism, but he also found time to paint regularly and thereby earn a place of honour in our modern art tradition. His work from this phase reflects his distinctive modern sensibility and questioning mind," art critic Mahmud Al Zaman said this about Nitun Kundu at his solo exhibition titled 'Nitun Kundu: The Creative Mind' at Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in the capital.

The exhibition was inaugurated on December 3 on observance of his 72nd birth anniversary. In the exhibition Nitun's oil paintings, etchings and photographs of his unique sculptures took place. The exhibition was sponsored by AB Bank Ltd.

Eminent artist Qayyum Chowdury said, "It was only after the Liberation War that Kundu's first solo exhibition could be held. The exhibition highlighted the artist's ideas and views."

NItun Kundu was always meticulous in his work and aimed at perfection, whether it is in fine arts or crafts. His creativity was deep-seated, he said.

Nitun Kundu the painter dedicated himself to the pursuit of abstraction and in the sixties copiously produced both abstract paintings and abstract prints. Subsequently the national struggle brought about a sea change in his mental world. The Bengali national consciousness and their cultural movement inspired him with the dream of building a new nation. He endeavoured to shape the taste and cultural identity of this nation. This task involved a struggle with himself. As a result, a temporary break in his career as a painter. But when he dedicated himself once more to painting in the eighties, the manifestation of geometric forms in his work was more robust than in the earlier abstracts of the sixties and seventies. Increased use of geometry in fact added a new dimension to his work. The imaginative combination of lines and the varied use of colour endowed his abstract expressionist paintings with a special aura in the world of Bangladeshi modern art. In these paintings he has been able to capture the innate beauty of objects, thereby revelling his intense emotional engagement with aesthetic experience. At times he has also presented the lyrical beauty of nature through the geometrical deployment of line and colour.

Qayyum Chowdury mentioned that the master artist, who was his contemporary, combined art and industry in a superb manner and his initiatives to promote art was indeed unique as he was both an artist and a patron of crafts. He added that 'Otobi,' a furniture and interior design outlet, which Nitun had started, aspired to patronise the best artworks of the country in a gallery of its own. This ambitious dream however could not be fulfilled.

"Kundu's protests against the socio-economic and political injustices are deeply felt in his sculpture and art works," he said.

Luva Nahid Chowdhury, Director General of the Bengal Gallery, said, "NItun Kundu's incorporation of art and craft was a phenomenon that he envisaged decades back. He was an institution by himself and that he inspired many artists."

Amity Kundu, Nitun's daughter, a practicing architect and interior designer, said, "My father began with little but reached out to a greater height,"

"This was done with dignity, respect and hard work along with his integral talent. This was a great inspiration for his fellow artists and his juniors," she said.

While mentioning the greatest thing about him, Amity said, "It was not his creation of 'Otobi,' but his unsurpassed sincerity and diligence. He always carried his teachings of his seniors at the Art College. He worked at sculpture, which was his forte, even though he did not have academic training in the field."

Nitun Kundu, who won an Ekushey Padak, among a dozen local awards and accolades, reflected well the intrepid generation of artists during the Liberation War.

This exhibition is a testament to the purity of Nitun's artistic commitment from his student days onwards and affords us access to the vast dream world that he tried to construct. In this enchanted realm light and colour dance together, dream and reality coexist in harmony and intimations pf spring impinge on our consciousness.

The paintings were not merely abstract experiments that allude to reality and evoke strong feelings. They were extraordinary by virtue of their expressive techniques and were celebrations of the life force in nature. Anyone visiting the show will enter a magical world of beautiful forms. And will depart the firm conviction that Nitun was a painter of the first rank.

The exhibition will end December 17.