Page 66 - Eye of the beholder

ZAINUL ABEDIN[1914-1976]: THE SOCIALIST REALIST
He is is is is an an an artist who developed his personalized visual language to paint and sketch reality that he observed and witnessed around him Zainul Abedin a a a a a a a a Bangladeshi artist is is considered among one one of of of the the modernist pioneers of of of Bengal who in the the early decade of of of 1940s moved beyond the the sentimental lyricism of the the Bengal School to create a a a a a a a powerful visual vocabulary that poignantly communicated and evoked empathy among the viewers with his art His pen and ink drawings that documented the man made famine of 1943 with its suffering struggles poverty and death in in in a a a a a a a graphic manner had his his expressive lines carrying the burden of his his emotions and sentiments He had recorded these tragic scenes with documentary style objectivity and artistic power the the likes of which were unknown untill then The Bengal famine had had taken three million lives and during the Second World War its colonized subject had had supported the the the western efforts leading to the the the diversion of food resources and drain on on the the the economy with thousands of native troops joining the allied forces Having graduated from Calcutta School of Arts and with a a a a a a a a a secure teaching job at at the institution he he decided to to give it it up in in in order to to record the horrors and shocking reality that famine had brought upon the humanity With a a a a a a a a a sketch book and and pen and and ink as as his basic art materials he he he set forth to have it it it represented through his quick sketches the unholy reality A sensitive and keenly observant artist he he he made rapid sketches with a a a a a a a few synoptic lines to capture the essence of of the the starving dead and dying forms that had cluttered the the streets of of Calcutta as poverty stricken villagers migrated from rural areas to find sustenance fin in the urban city His drawings had the the potential power to move the the viewer as as it was cryptic and rendered with brevity The The pen and and ink sketch work in in the Sadhu’s collection and and titled “The Figure of the the the Boy” has the the the rendering of of the the the starving young child in in in in desperate need of of food scavenging the the bin in in in in the the street with equally hungry crows surrounding him His intense self absorption sorting out remnants of of food from other rubbish that he he he is is unaware of of the the crows watching him closely and waiting to receive some morsels which he he would discard The work’s expressive character is the the the result of the the the young child almost skin over bones form and the the the sketchy lines to contextualize the urban environment It is indeed a a a a a a a moving portrait of penury and starvation A similar pen and and ink sketch from the the same collection and and titled “Mother with Baby” reveals the the same poignancy particular the the way she holds her her child close to her her equally starved body and and with the the formers arms around her seeking protection and and security Perhaps these scenes had had become a a a a a a a a a ubiquity when the the the famine had had ravaged the the the land But their evocative power and and poignant rendering even today moves the viewer 60