Renowned artist Mubinul Azim’s 45th death anniversary today

Born on November 24, 1934, Mubinul Azim passed away in 1975, at the age of 41. Today marks the legendary painter's 45th death anniversary.

Despite his short span of life, Mubinul Azim presented the world with a treasure trove of creations, starting from sketches, oil paints, and watercolours to experimentations with various materials, nylon, cement, sand, jute and clothes among others.

A second-year student at the Dacca Art College (at present Faculty of Fine Art,University of Dhaka) in 1952, Azim was an active participant of the Language Movement, organising protests and producing several posters and paintings of the time.

Passionate about painting from his childhood, Azim was a direct student of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin and later was given a stature  next to the legendary artist upon his brilliance.

The 1950-1960 time frame was the most revolutionary for modern and contemporary Bangladeshi artists. Around the time, Azim along with other counterparts,  introduced various forms of modern, abstract, abstract-impressionist and abstract-expressionist art. Azim was considered a prominent and pioneering artist of Pakistan at the time.

Azim's career as a painter started when he moved to Karachi in 1957, where he worked as a teacher at an art institution and later, in Alliance Francaise Karachi, he also worked as a lecturer at Pak-American Centre in Karachi, Pakistan.

Azim had an intricate and individualistic style of painting.

Brilliant in design and texture, nature and its various elements found their way into Azim's canvas, with unique, bright colours and forms. Passionate about intrinsic details, Azim also constructed artistic impressions of modern life and portrayed them with elegance. The charm and bitterness, the appeal and longings and other different aspects of city and country life came alive in his canvas.

Mubinul Azim's brilliant creations made him a favourite among the elites and high officials of Pakistan, and several of his works were portrayed in official buildings including a portrait of Quaid-I-Azam in the National Parliament.

In 1964, the former Pakistan president Ayub Khan presented King Birendra of Nepal, a painting by Mubinul Azim.

After the Liberation War, Azim returned to Dhaka for good and completely immersed himself in the world of art. Azim painted three portraits of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. One of them found its way into Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's personal collection.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman presented the renowned BBC journalist, Sir William Mark Tully, reputed for his coverage of the Liberation War, a painting by Mubinul Azim in 1974, as a gesture of appreciation.

Throughout his career, Azim held 17 solo exhibitions and 37 group art exhibitions in the country and abroad. In his honour, three solo exhibitions were arranged at Dhaka Club (1976), Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (1998) and Bengal Art Gallery (2015).

Shortly after his demise, Dhaka Club, along with noted singer Kalim Sharafi and others, hosted an event, commemorating Mubinul Azim and his life. In 2012, the painter was posthumously awarded the Ekushey Padak for his outstanding contribution to Bangladeshi art.

In the book, "Mubinul Azim: Colours and Dreams," published by Bengal Publications, his wife, Momtaz Azim, persevered and documented his works, reports, articles and discussions on him and his works.

Azim's paintings are showcased in several places, including Bangladesh National Museum, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Bangladesh Biman, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Bangladesh Bank, Jeddah Airport, Sonali Bank- London Branch and Dhaka Club among other monumental landmarks.