A 'journey in graphics'

For the first time, an art exhibition featuring works of Indian art maestro Maqbool Fida Husain will be held in Bangladesh.

The weeklong exhibition titled, “MF Husain Journey in Graphics”, will begin on Wednesday at Galleri Kaya in the capital's Uttara.

It will feature as many as 59 original prints of the master painter, which are his important graphic works, said organisers at a press conference at The Daily Star Centre yesterday.

Goutam Chakraborty, director of Galleri Kaya, said the exhibition will showcase a selection of Husain's artworks done in serigraph, lithograph and silk screen on paper.

The prints have been collected from Indian art collectors Ganesh Pratap Singh and Vinay M Sheth, Goutam said. This will be the first exhibition of Husain's works in Bangladesh, he added.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor are expected to be present as guests at the inaugural ceremony, which will be held at 6:00pm on Wednesday at the gallery.

The exhibition will remain open for all from 11:00am to 7:00pm every day till January 31.

The exhibition will create a scope for art lovers to see Husain's artistic evaluation and mastery, said art critic Moinuddin Khaled at the press conference.

“As a self-taught artist, Husain created his own style that did not follow any academic rule,” he added.

Prof Jamal Ahmed of Dhaka University's Institute of Fine Arts and artist Ranjit Das also spoke.

MF Husain was born on September 17, 1915, in Pandharpur, Maharashtra of India. He moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) at an early age and began his career by painting billboards for cinemas. He was one of the founding members of the avant-garde Progressive Artist Group, formed in 1947. The legendary artist passed away on June 9, 2011 in London, UK.