SHAHABUDDIN: A Retrospective 1973

“Shahabuddin's canvases are rugged, restless, trembling, haunted, compassionate, profoundly concentrated.”

– Chinmoy Guha

Nalini Kanta Bhattasali Gallery

Bangladesh National Museum, Dhaka

15 Sep - 14 Oct 2023

Organised by

Bangladesh National Museum

Supported by

Ministry of Cultural Affairs

Curated by

ARTCON

Shahabuddin: A Retrospective 1973–2023 was a landmark exhibition celebrating five decades of artistic achievement by one of Bangladesh’s most distinguished painters, Shahabuddin Ahmed. Organized by the Bangladesh National Museum with support from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and curated by ARTCON, the exhibition was held at the Nalini Kanta Bhattasali Gallery from 15 September to 14 October 2023. Inaugurated by the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, it remains one of the most comprehensive retrospectives ever dedicated to the internationally acclaimed artist and valiant freedom fighter.

Featuring 144 carefully selected artworks assembled from the collections of 40 private and institutional collectors, the exhibition presented paintings, watercolours, prints, and rare early works, many of which had never before been exhibited publicly. Spanning the years 1973 to 2023, the retrospective traced the evolution of Shahabuddin’s distinctive visual language—from his formative years to his internationally celebrated mature practice—revealing an oeuvre defined by extraordinary movement, expressive brushwork, and an unwavering commitment to the human spirit.

The exhibition explored the defining themes of Shahabuddin’s career, including the Language Movement, the Liberation War of 1971, freedom, resilience, humanity, and national identity. Alongside his iconic figurative compositions were self-portraits and portraits of historic personalities including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Barack Obama, reflecting the breadth of his artistic vision and historical engagement.

More than a retrospective, the exhibition offered a profound visual narrative of Bangladesh’s cultural memory through the eyes of an artist whose life and work have remained inseparable from the ideals of freedom and human dignity. By bringing together five decades of remarkable artistic production, Shahabuddin: A Retrospective 1973–2023 reaffirmed the enduring legacy of one of Bangladesh’s greatest modern masters while underscoring ARTCON’s curatorial commitment to preserving and presenting the nation’s artistic heritage.

Virtual Reality Tour: Digital Twin of the exhibition SHAHABUDDIN: A Retrospective 1973 - 2023

“Shahabuddin is one of the 50 Master Painters of Contemporary Arts, an honour bestowed on him at the Olympiad of the Arts, Barcelona.”

Shahabuddin Ahmed

b. 1950

Shahabuddin Ahmed (b. 11 September 1950, Raipur, Narsingdi, Bangladesh) is one of the most celebrated modern painters of Bangladesh, renowned for his powerful figurative works that embody motion, freedom, and resilience. A veteran of the 1971 Liberation War, Shahabuddin graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. He later studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris under a French Government scholarship in 1974. His paintings—defined by dynamic brushstrokes, muscular human forms, and bold colour fields—capture the physical and spiritual intensity of struggle and triumph. Rooted in Bangladesh’s post-independence spirit yet universal in appeal, his works are housed in significant collections including the Bangladesh National Museum, the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, and the Seoul Olympic Museum. Among his many honours are the Gold Medal at Salon du Printemps, Paris (1981), Honourable Mention at the 3rd Asian Art Biennale (1986), the Independence Day Award (2000), and France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2014). Shahabuddin’s art bridges personal heroism and collective memory, standing as a timeless testament to the human spirit and the enduring quest for freedom.

SHAHABUDDIN

A Retrospective 1973 - 2023

Published by Bangladesh National Museum

Produced by ARTCON

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Shahabuddin: A Retrospective 1973 - 2023, featuring 50 years of work by Independence Award-winning and internationally acclaimed artist Shahabuddin Ahmed. Inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the chief guest, the month-long exhibition was held at the Nalini Kanta Bhattasali Gallery in Dhaka and showcased 144 artworks, carefully curated from the collections of 40 esteemed collectors. Spanning Shahabuddin's career from 1973 to 2023, the exhibition displayed vibrant colours and dynamic compositions that highlighted significant moments in Bangladesh's history, such as the Language Movement, the War of Independence, and the suffering of refugees in 1971. It also included self-portraits and portraits of notable figures like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Barack Obama, alongside works from Shahabuddin’s student years. This exhibition provided a visually captivating journey through his evolving artistic expression, immersing viewers in his rich artistic legacy and offering a profound narrative of Bangladesh’s cultural and historical journey.

“His brushstrokes transcend the physical limits of the canvas, expanding into a larger spatial universe that seems to dissolve into infinity itself.”

A Gallery of Blood-Lit Paintings

Chinmoy Guha

Painter Shahabuddin is "as simple, noble, and vast as the sky"—to borrow the words of Jibanananda Das (Bela Obela Kalbela). He is a sun-drenched bird of our troubled times, a man of the skies. Illuminated by the light of his inner vision and singular individuality, he has kindled one blood-lit gallery of paintings after another—works that excavate the deepest chambers of the human heart.

This golden-hearted artist, emerging from the very soul of Bangladesh, is one of the great marvels of the Indian subcontinent. His brushstrokes transcend the physical limits of the canvas, expanding into a larger spatial universe that seems to dissolve into infinity itself. There is in them an unbearable yearning for freedom, an insatiable thirst for fire. Whenever I stand before his paintings, I recall the haunting lines of Arun Mitra:

"Who speaks to me of comfort? My days and nights are clawed by the tiger's nails."

To understand Shahabuddin's paintings requires a profound way of seeing. One must remember that he was a guerrilla freedom fighter during Bangladesh's Liberation War of 1971. That experience endowed him with extraordinary courage and with the tremendous force to sweep away all obstacles—as swift and fierce as the leap of a cheetah through emptiness. Yet this energy draws its nourishment from the soil of his homeland, from the roots of his own country. Boundless love for that land is inseparable from sorrow, and tears cling to that love. His paintings embody not only pain and suffering but also the joy of transcending them. They pulse with relentless velocity, movement, and momentum, as though tearing open the very entrails of existence and pouring blood and dreams onto the canvas. Indeed, I have seldom witnessed such intensity of motion even in cinema. His paintings are, above all, an impassioned ....

“Shahabuddin demonstrates that an individual cannot truly be understood through superficial likeness alone. A portrait becomes meaningful only when it reveals the inner emotional life, psychological depth, and spiritual force of its subject.”

Shahabuddin's Canvas: A Map of Courageous Humanity

Moinuddin Khaled

The dynamic expression of powerful human figures constitutes the central theme of Shahabuddin's art. To the artist, the pristine white surface of the canvas is akin to a battlefield. Within the heat of creation, his fiery spirit gives form to the courageous expressions of men engaged in struggle. The steadfast resolve of the heroic warrior—whose only alternatives are victory or death—has been rendered in countless variations by this artist who himself fought in Bangladesh's Liberation War.

The Liberation War of 1971 transformed Shahabuddin into a new human being. It bestowed upon him a profound sense of renaissance, a rebirth of both life and consciousness. No other artist in Bangladesh has been able to portray, with such intensity, these indomitable figures whose passionate desire is to remain unconquered. Within the mind of this warrior-artist, the Liberation War of 1971 continues to unfold ceaselessly. In the collective uprising of a people yearning for freedom, he witnessed the epic grandeur of heroism on a monumental historical stage.

Bangladesh achieved its independence at the cost of innumerable lives, and every village in the country bears the memory of those who fought for freedom. Forgetting this truth, Shahabuddin cannot imagine devoting his artistic practice to subjects detached from that sacrifice. Through each painting he reaffirms his convictions and his lifelong commitment; in his art, the spirit of the Liberation War is continually renewed.

Yet this consciousness of liberation is not confined to the events of 1971 alone. For centuries, the people of this land endured domination and exploitation. At last, united in unwavering determination, they rose together in pursuit of freedom. The Liberation War represented the culmination of a historical awakening against generations of oppression. Inspired by this momentous national resurgence, Shahabuddin has read history on a far broader scale. Crossing the boundaries of nation ....