The 101st anniversary of the birth of eminent artist SM Sultan, best known for his unique depiction of the strength, vigour and vitality of rural people, will be celebrated today.
To mark the day, the Sultan Birth Centenary Celebration Committee organised a programme on 鈥榯he legacy artist Sultan鈥� at the Bengal Shilpalay at Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
Besides, a seven-day programme taken as part of the birth centenary celebration of the artist is scheduled to be inaugurated on the Dhaka University today, which will feature exhibition of Sultan鈥檚 artworks, screening of films and discussion.
As the editor of the literary magazine 鈥楴ree鈥�, filmmaker Nurul Alam Atique had worked on an issue on Sultan in 1990. The filmmaker has also started making a film on the legendary artist titled Lal Mia.
Born at Machimdia in Narail on August 10, 1924, Sheikh Mohammed Sultan, popularly known as SM Sultan, dropped out of school at an early age due to financial constraints.
He was interested in drawing and painting at an early age.
Patronised by Dhirendra Nath Roy, an art-loving zamindar of Sultan鈥檚 village, he went to study art at Kolkata Government Art College, but left halfway in 1943.
Sultan began to work as a freelance painter of portraits and landscapes in Kolkata, where Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy, elder brother of politician Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, gave the artist shelter and mentored him until he went out on a tour across the subcontinent.
Sultan was deeply influenced by the Khaksar Movement in 1943 and it was by joining this movement that he was said to have developed a holistic approach to life. His lifelong affection for all things living also developed at this time.
Sultan, known for his nomadic lifestyle, portrayed the rural man and woman in his visionary canvass. What is extraordinary about his paintings is the muscular depiction of the peasants and rural working men and women.
While still in his twenties, Sultan鈥檚 works were shown in Simla of India in 1946 and in Lahore and Karachi in 1948鈥�49.
Exhibitions of his works were held in New York, Boston, Michigan University and London in 1959, long before the first exhibition of his paintings was held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in 1976.
The artist was honoured by Cambridge University as the Man of Asia in 1982.
He received major civil awards of the country, including the Ekushey Padak in 1982, the Bangladesh Charu Shilpi Sangsad Award in 1986 and the Independence Award in 1993.
SM Sultan passed away on October 10, 1994.
