Chowdhury, Qayyum

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Qayyum Chowdhury

Chowdhury, Qayyum (1932-2014) a famous Bangladeshi painter. He is the first generation painter of this country. He was the premier cover page artist of Bangladesh and his remarkable typography has become the cover art of numerous books in this country. He was equally popular as a painter. Qayyum Chowdhury was born on 9 May 1932 in Feni district. At that time, the aura of the family lineage of his ancestors ended, but education and cultural practices survived. Father Abdul Quddus Chowdhury sowed as inspector of cooperative department and later, he worked as an officer of Co-operative Bank. The name of his mother is Sarfunnisa Choudhurani. Qayyum Chowdhury’s father was close to many musicians including sachin dev burman. He had a family connection with Abdul Karim Sahityabisharad. Inspired by his father, Qayyum Chowdhury had developed of reading newspapers and books and listening music since childhood. These helped him shape his sense of aesthetics and tasteful mind. Due to his father’s transferable job, Qayyum Chowdhury has stayed in many parts of the country. Thus, young Qayyum enriched himself by seeing the nature and people of different parts of the country.

He passed matriculation in 1949 from Mymensingh City Collegiate School. Shilpacharya zainul abedin established the Institute of Fine Arts in Dhaka in 1948. In the next year (1949), Qayyum was admitted to this institute for art education. His teachers were renowned artists like Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, Ahmed, Safiuddin and Patua Quamrul Hassan. His batch mates in the Art Institute included baseer, murtaja, Chowdhury, Rashid, abdur razzak and others, who later became prominent in their respective fields. He was very close to artist Aminul Islam, a student of the same batch. These artists of the first generation vowed to change the mindset of the people of this country. In 1951-52, they organized a painting exhibition at Lytton Hall of Dhaka University. This was the first ever painting exhibition in this country. Visitors came and bought tickets to see the exhibition. Qayyum Chowdhury’s pictures were placed in that exhibition.

Qayyum Chowdhury completed his art education in 1954 with honors from the Art Institute in Dhaka. He had been proud of Bengal and Bengalis since his student days. He took part in the 1952 language movement. On 16 March 1971, Charu and Karu Shilpi Sangram Parishad organized a ‘Freedom March’ in support of the movement for national emancipation of the Bengalis under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Qayyum Chowdhury and Murtaza Baseer were the joint conveners of the organization. Zainul Abedin led the ‘freedom procession’ that started from Shaheed Minar and ended at the Bahadur Shah Park. Qayyum Chowdhury also joined along with many others. He was always involved in progressive social and cultural activities.

He joined the Fine Arts Institute as a teacher in 1957. After three years, he left the job and joined the Design Center of BSIC in 1960 as a designer. The following year he quit his job and started working as Chief Artist at the Observer Group of Publications. In 1965, he re-joined the Dhaka Government College of Arts and Crafts (Institute of Fine Arts renamed). This institution was incorporated into Dhaka University finally becoming Faculty of Fine Arts. Qayyum Chowdhury retired as a Professor in 1994. Later, he continued teaching as adjunct professor till 2002. Besides teaching, he was involved in editing and art direction. He was a regular cover artist for Shandhani Prakashani and Mawla Brothers. He has created a new trend in the cover design. Qayyum Chowdhury’s work as a cover artist for Eid issues and special issues of Dailies was loved by everyone. He was an artist consultant to many magazines and advertising agencies. In addition to all the works, he painted numerous pictures in all mediums. The main motifs of his canvases were rural society and the Liberation War. He was married to artist Tahera Khanum. She was one among the 5 girl students admitted in the first batch of the Art Institute.

Qayyum Chowdhury received his first National Award in 1961, only a few years after the end of his student life. In the same year, he won the first prize for his picture ‘Bottom’ in the All Pakistan Art Exhibition held in Lahore. In 1966, he received the Royal Court Award at the Fifth Tehran Biennial. In 1977, Shilpakala Academy organized Qayyum Chowdhury’s first solo exhibition. He won the Shilpakala Academy Award that year. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in his long career. His paintings are preserved in Bangladesh National Museum, Bangladesh National Art Gallery, University Grants Commission, Bangabhaban, Bangladesh Bank, Sonali Bank, Asiatic Society Art Gallery, Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paulo in Brazil and in various private collections at home and abroad.

After retirement, Qayyum Chowdhury was busy with painting in two studios established at Azimpur and Gazi Bhavan. He painted all through his life. Qayyum Chowdhury was a socially conscious artist. He was awarded with gold medal by the Sultan Foundation in 2001. He also received ‘Ekushey Padak’ in 1986 for special contribution to art.

This national artist of name and fame passed away on 30 November 2014. [Hamiduzzaman Khan]