As a child SM
Sultan’s nickname was Lal Mia, and he was an apprentice to the masonry
work of his father, a mason, Sheikh Meser. With the help of a patron, he
entered Calcutta Art School. He did not bother much with grammar. He
blended his imagination with the faces of men and women. Apart from
being a follower of Allama Mashriqi’s Khaksar organisation, he was
sometimes a vagrant, and sometimes, a mystic-minstrel. He settled in an
abandoned house in Narail for a number of years. There he lived with his
pet cats, dogs, mongoose and monkeys—not to mention his snake.
The government of Bangladesh honoured him as a resident painter of Shilpakala Academy. In Kashmir, when he painted Bengal from his memory, they were water-colours with palm-trees and boats. He depicted Kashmir with deep Purple mountains, exotic shrubs, and flowing rivers. But Sultan was known for his figure painting, rather than his landscape. Human interest was what moved him.
Three decades and a half later he returned to Bangladesh. Each of the figures that he painted was like some giant. He gave them imaginary bulging muscles—and thus he defined the farmers and fishermen. His paintings are compared to Vincent van Gogh’s “Potato Eaters”. Abdur Razzaque a national painter said, “Sultan’s mastery was in seeing the ordinary men as extraordinary.” Syed Amjad Ali, a critic says, “His paintings are done from his memory. The serene rich panoramas of Kashmir are done in oil and are flamboyant. He has also depicted refugees and poverty-stricken people. His largeness and boldness of depicting human figures show his sympathy for the poor and the landless.” Professor Shamsur Rahman says, “Now that the tireless painter has settled down—far from the madding crowd—the lush green and chirping birds, the beauty of plats and cornfields, the male and female torso, shows us how our culture is deeply rooted in agriculture.”
“Sultan is the voice of Asia,” says Peter Sewitz of the Goethe Institut, “In his painting, the nation finds its symbol and identity.”
“Today Sultan has his name and fame—and his works sell for high prices.” says Sadeq Khan.
Seeing Sultan’s paintings, one gets the impression of vastness and strength. In his drama of the Bengal village, the main actors are bathing women or toiling men. He believed that in his Arcadia, where happiness and contentment reigned, caring fathers had the figures of European high Renaissance period. The women were graceful and supple breasted. His education in the US and Europe helped him paint with magical, masterful compactness. His colours were bright and lively.
The collection at Bengal Gallery, which was hanged in their places well before 10 am, with buyers flitting in and out willy-nilly.
The first female that we caste our eyes on, has large hips, and delectable limbs. Her hair, tied at the back—goes well with the squiggles at the sides. All the drawings in charcoal can be traced to 1950s. Another drawing brings in a nude, with details of her lips, nose, eyes. Her clothes are in whirls. Her nose, eyes and details of her face are clear. Around her are swirls, curls and twirls. Another drawing displays a woman husking rice. She is doing it in such a manner that she appears as if she is dancing with rhythm and ecstasy. The borders of her sari are simple. Her features are also minimal, with just lines and strokes.
Next we have a man in a dhoti, playing Banglar “dhol”. There is a woman dancing with abandon, in front. The triangles and circles are simplified. There is strength in every line that has been drawn. Again, we see a woman, with a tree, at her side. She is drawing her veil. The bangles on her wrists add to her glamour. She has strong limbs. She has lotus flowers in front to add to her glamour. A female form, with a lot of flowers and birds of a forest, with stones and green grass in front. Her delectable bosoms, details of her facial features add to the fanciful form. All the sketches appear to be deifying the female form and the greenery around her—which hold her almost in a frame—and enhance her odalisque appearance. Her jewellery and other adornments are as if she were walking out of the pages of a Persian poet’s dream.
The government of Bangladesh honoured him as a resident painter of Shilpakala Academy. In Kashmir, when he painted Bengal from his memory, they were water-colours with palm-trees and boats. He depicted Kashmir with deep Purple mountains, exotic shrubs, and flowing rivers. But Sultan was known for his figure painting, rather than his landscape. Human interest was what moved him.
Three decades and a half later he returned to Bangladesh. Each of the figures that he painted was like some giant. He gave them imaginary bulging muscles—and thus he defined the farmers and fishermen. His paintings are compared to Vincent van Gogh’s “Potato Eaters”. Abdur Razzaque a national painter said, “Sultan’s mastery was in seeing the ordinary men as extraordinary.” Syed Amjad Ali, a critic says, “His paintings are done from his memory. The serene rich panoramas of Kashmir are done in oil and are flamboyant. He has also depicted refugees and poverty-stricken people. His largeness and boldness of depicting human figures show his sympathy for the poor and the landless.” Professor Shamsur Rahman says, “Now that the tireless painter has settled down—far from the madding crowd—the lush green and chirping birds, the beauty of plats and cornfields, the male and female torso, shows us how our culture is deeply rooted in agriculture.”
“Sultan is the voice of Asia,” says Peter Sewitz of the Goethe Institut, “In his painting, the nation finds its symbol and identity.”
“Today Sultan has his name and fame—and his works sell for high prices.” says Sadeq Khan.
Seeing Sultan’s paintings, one gets the impression of vastness and strength. In his drama of the Bengal village, the main actors are bathing women or toiling men. He believed that in his Arcadia, where happiness and contentment reigned, caring fathers had the figures of European high Renaissance period. The women were graceful and supple breasted. His education in the US and Europe helped him paint with magical, masterful compactness. His colours were bright and lively.
The collection at Bengal Gallery, which was hanged in their places well before 10 am, with buyers flitting in and out willy-nilly.
The first female that we caste our eyes on, has large hips, and delectable limbs. Her hair, tied at the back—goes well with the squiggles at the sides. All the drawings in charcoal can be traced to 1950s. Another drawing brings in a nude, with details of her lips, nose, eyes. Her clothes are in whirls. Her nose, eyes and details of her face are clear. Around her are swirls, curls and twirls. Another drawing displays a woman husking rice. She is doing it in such a manner that she appears as if she is dancing with rhythm and ecstasy. The borders of her sari are simple. Her features are also minimal, with just lines and strokes.
Next we have a man in a dhoti, playing Banglar “dhol”. There is a woman dancing with abandon, in front. The triangles and circles are simplified. There is strength in every line that has been drawn. Again, we see a woman, with a tree, at her side. She is drawing her veil. The bangles on her wrists add to her glamour. She has strong limbs. She has lotus flowers in front to add to her glamour. A female form, with a lot of flowers and birds of a forest, with stones and green grass in front. Her delectable bosoms, details of her facial features add to the fanciful form. All the sketches appear to be deifying the female form and the greenery around her—which hold her almost in a frame—and enhance her odalisque appearance. Her jewellery and other adornments are as if she were walking out of the pages of a Persian poet’s dream.
Landscape, watercolour, 1950s.
Drawing 43, charcoal, 1950s.
’From the 60s’
is a female form with a small child. Behind her are palm trees and
bushes—to add to the exotica in wilderness. We then come across a grown
nymph—with one step forward and another at the back, with an earthen
vessel in her left hand – with trees and bushes at the side. Ducks and
parrots enter the cavalcade of extravaganza of crayon sketches. The
bills, eyes and wings of the ducks appear realistic beyond belief.
Leaves, bushes and stalks of conical leaves add to the lush effect of
the Arcadia, or the forgotten Paradise –with delightful of the forgotten
dreams and hopes—as if cut out of some Persian poetry book.
We come across cows grazing peacefully. We see some pale colours laid on, in the next piece—to bring in the farmer and his stock of cows and the collection of haystacks. This is from the 60s– the trees, grass, lit up sky. There is the hint of jade, pale rose madder and purple colours. There is the twirling of two fruit –bearing coconut trees- one crossing the other – as if in a dance or hop-scotch game. Here the leaves are dark and are done in zigzags to lend mystery to the forest– busting with bushes. We then come across a woman carrying something in her hand. A bird or a large frog, in the vicinity of lotus flowers and buds add to the ambiance of nature in its simplified glory. Clouds and fish in the rivulets add to the Arcadian atmosphere of fun and frolic of man and beasts. There is also a hint of a woman, resplendent with her melon-shaped bosoms and long, twirling hair.
“Sultan put in Indian classical rules of painting women. His depiction of nature and human being followed those rules. Some of the sketches are complete, while some are only lines and squiggles—even after restoration has been done. Some of the works comprise elementary basic lines, while others are complete lines. The figures are drawn following the norms of the Indian art critic,” said Moinuddin Khalid, who was one of the major speakers at a press conference at Bengal Gallery September 20.
”One of his teachers was Romin Chakrabarty and Zainul Abedin was also his teacher, as SM Sultan was in the Kolkata Art College. At that time it was called Calcutta Government Art School by the British, in the mid nineteenth century. In 1940 he studied there for three years. After that he left the academy, although his results were good. He left to attend the Khaksar Movement. He was the precursor of this movement. Its aim was to help the distressed and the downtrodden. Sultan went away from his drawing and painting and engaged in the movement. After this he travelled throughout India. In 1944 he settled in Kashmir. He had an exhibition in Shimla, with a Canadian lady Ms Hudson, to promote him. In 1946 there was a huge commotion regarding the division of the Subcontinent. There were riots. Sultan painted the British soldiers. With a convoy of British soldiers he fled to Karachi. He settled in Karachi and studied in Lahore and Karachi for a few days. While staying in Karachi, he was invited by a US organisation to visit America. This scholarship was to the most important Pakistani artist of that time. During his stay he drew pictures; he asked the people who had arranged this journey to see the children’s schools. This is because he wanted to raise children properly. On the way back the visited Europe. He visited England and France. He was jointly exhibited in Europe with Picasso and Salvador Dali.”
Moinuddudin Khalid goes on to say, “From 1951, he went to Dhaka Art College in Shegunbagicha, he got habituated to marijuana – and liked to call it simply ‘tobacco’. His lifestyle was bohemian and different from the average middle-class. Sultan went back to his village in Narail. In the 50s, he began a school for children. He visited the Sundarbans and Jessore—specially the various districts of Bangladesh. He saw quite a bit of the rural life of Bengal.”
The critic adds that Sultan loved depicting the rural people, with robust figures, with ornaments. These were primitive people, who were undoubtedly attached to the soil. He wanted to present rural Bengal with all its beauty and harmony and these sketches presented with pride by Bengal Gallery for three weeks symbolise the artist’s passion for the simplicity and gorgeousness of the villages of Bengal
Prof Abul Kasim Joardar says, with tears in his eyes, “For the collector of the drawings , Sultan was a welcome visitor. We became intimate friends and knew each others innermost desires and dreams. He was six years younger than me. He was born in 1924, while I came to this earth in 1918. In 1951, I got to know Sultan. I met him in the house of a contractor called Sardar. Sometimes Sultan wore saris and put peacock feathers in his hair for fun. He was often playful. He was acquainted with Mahatrma Fatima Jinnah. He could sing ‘ghazals’ with an admirable voice. In Chicago Chronicle he was praised for ‘uprooting humanity’, and for being a good artist. He was not really understood by others. His financial position was low. That’s why he dreamt of going back to his friends in Karachi. His artist friends were in high society there. He was indifferent in storing his books and works. He used to play the flute for fun.”
Joardar’s wife Shahana, in the brown cotton sari, says, “I’ve seen and grown to love Sultan, along with my husband –and those who understood his Utopian way. He lived with animals and birds but what of it? He was a kind man and fed the snakes, badges, bears and the birds and animals that lived with him—and kept him company. He often wore a black flowing cloak. He called me “Didi”. I often combed his lock and made plaits of them. He used to take the children on his lap and drew. In his exhibition in 1988 in Shilpakala Academy, he lived with us and was comfortable with visitors who came to the house. Sultan loved animals, birds and plants.With the company of children, he had a large boat, which he would sail in the river Chitra. The people of Narail didn’t care about him. It was Joarder, who arranged for Sultan to be given boarding and lodging in a hotel.”
For more than a decade, Syed Aminul Huq Kaisar used to visit Joardar’s house. Last year Joardar said that he had a book of sketches by Sultan. After a year he showed it to Subir Chowdhury of Bengal. He consulted Ranjit Das of Tangail, Dr Farida Zaman and they ratified that the lines and squiggles, even in incomplete sketches were genuine and unique. It was in 2009 that one gathered and discussed with Dr Farida.
Thus one was amazed at the collection of people, who went into the extravaganza of SM Sultan’s sketches. They made the rooms of Bengal Gallery agog with life. This was the 14th display of the gallery. It lasts for three weeks.
We come across cows grazing peacefully. We see some pale colours laid on, in the next piece—to bring in the farmer and his stock of cows and the collection of haystacks. This is from the 60s– the trees, grass, lit up sky. There is the hint of jade, pale rose madder and purple colours. There is the twirling of two fruit –bearing coconut trees- one crossing the other – as if in a dance or hop-scotch game. Here the leaves are dark and are done in zigzags to lend mystery to the forest– busting with bushes. We then come across a woman carrying something in her hand. A bird or a large frog, in the vicinity of lotus flowers and buds add to the ambiance of nature in its simplified glory. Clouds and fish in the rivulets add to the Arcadian atmosphere of fun and frolic of man and beasts. There is also a hint of a woman, resplendent with her melon-shaped bosoms and long, twirling hair.
“Sultan put in Indian classical rules of painting women. His depiction of nature and human being followed those rules. Some of the sketches are complete, while some are only lines and squiggles—even after restoration has been done. Some of the works comprise elementary basic lines, while others are complete lines. The figures are drawn following the norms of the Indian art critic,” said Moinuddin Khalid, who was one of the major speakers at a press conference at Bengal Gallery September 20.
”One of his teachers was Romin Chakrabarty and Zainul Abedin was also his teacher, as SM Sultan was in the Kolkata Art College. At that time it was called Calcutta Government Art School by the British, in the mid nineteenth century. In 1940 he studied there for three years. After that he left the academy, although his results were good. He left to attend the Khaksar Movement. He was the precursor of this movement. Its aim was to help the distressed and the downtrodden. Sultan went away from his drawing and painting and engaged in the movement. After this he travelled throughout India. In 1944 he settled in Kashmir. He had an exhibition in Shimla, with a Canadian lady Ms Hudson, to promote him. In 1946 there was a huge commotion regarding the division of the Subcontinent. There were riots. Sultan painted the British soldiers. With a convoy of British soldiers he fled to Karachi. He settled in Karachi and studied in Lahore and Karachi for a few days. While staying in Karachi, he was invited by a US organisation to visit America. This scholarship was to the most important Pakistani artist of that time. During his stay he drew pictures; he asked the people who had arranged this journey to see the children’s schools. This is because he wanted to raise children properly. On the way back the visited Europe. He visited England and France. He was jointly exhibited in Europe with Picasso and Salvador Dali.”
Moinuddudin Khalid goes on to say, “From 1951, he went to Dhaka Art College in Shegunbagicha, he got habituated to marijuana – and liked to call it simply ‘tobacco’. His lifestyle was bohemian and different from the average middle-class. Sultan went back to his village in Narail. In the 50s, he began a school for children. He visited the Sundarbans and Jessore—specially the various districts of Bangladesh. He saw quite a bit of the rural life of Bengal.”
The critic adds that Sultan loved depicting the rural people, with robust figures, with ornaments. These were primitive people, who were undoubtedly attached to the soil. He wanted to present rural Bengal with all its beauty and harmony and these sketches presented with pride by Bengal Gallery for three weeks symbolise the artist’s passion for the simplicity and gorgeousness of the villages of Bengal
Prof Abul Kasim Joardar says, with tears in his eyes, “For the collector of the drawings , Sultan was a welcome visitor. We became intimate friends and knew each others innermost desires and dreams. He was six years younger than me. He was born in 1924, while I came to this earth in 1918. In 1951, I got to know Sultan. I met him in the house of a contractor called Sardar. Sometimes Sultan wore saris and put peacock feathers in his hair for fun. He was often playful. He was acquainted with Mahatrma Fatima Jinnah. He could sing ‘ghazals’ with an admirable voice. In Chicago Chronicle he was praised for ‘uprooting humanity’, and for being a good artist. He was not really understood by others. His financial position was low. That’s why he dreamt of going back to his friends in Karachi. His artist friends were in high society there. He was indifferent in storing his books and works. He used to play the flute for fun.”
Joardar’s wife Shahana, in the brown cotton sari, says, “I’ve seen and grown to love Sultan, along with my husband –and those who understood his Utopian way. He lived with animals and birds but what of it? He was a kind man and fed the snakes, badges, bears and the birds and animals that lived with him—and kept him company. He often wore a black flowing cloak. He called me “Didi”. I often combed his lock and made plaits of them. He used to take the children on his lap and drew. In his exhibition in 1988 in Shilpakala Academy, he lived with us and was comfortable with visitors who came to the house. Sultan loved animals, birds and plants.With the company of children, he had a large boat, which he would sail in the river Chitra. The people of Narail didn’t care about him. It was Joarder, who arranged for Sultan to be given boarding and lodging in a hotel.”
For more than a decade, Syed Aminul Huq Kaisar used to visit Joardar’s house. Last year Joardar said that he had a book of sketches by Sultan. After a year he showed it to Subir Chowdhury of Bengal. He consulted Ranjit Das of Tangail, Dr Farida Zaman and they ratified that the lines and squiggles, even in incomplete sketches were genuine and unique. It was in 2009 that one gathered and discussed with Dr Farida.
Thus one was amazed at the collection of people, who went into the extravaganza of SM Sultan’s sketches. They made the rooms of Bengal Gallery agog with life. This was the 14th display of the gallery. It lasts for three weeks.
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