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By Marjorie Husain Son of the Soil Zainul Abedin will always be an integral part of the art history of the subcontinent. He influenced the work of both Indian and Pakistani painters and introduced a note of stark realism in the fifties and sixties against the prevalent abstraction of the times. Today in Pakistan, however, his enormous contribution has been overlooked by those keen to forget the loss of East Pakistan in 1972... [[image]]Artists in Pakistan, while differing among themselves on numerous issues, have invariably shown rare generosity of spirit to gifted artists from other countries. Exhibitions of the artworks of artists from India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and China, as well as European countries have been accorded appreciative and ungrudging responses, as well as warm hospitality and kindness from Pakistani artists. However, Zainul Abedin has over the past few years been ignored. While he was alive and exhibiting in Pakistan the artist enjoyed the respect and regard of his contemporaries in the country, regardless of the politics of troubled times. In an attempt to blot out history-especially the unpalatable secession of East Pakistan in 1971-the significant and influential contribution of Zainul Abedin to Pakistani art history seems to have been swept under the carpet. From the horrors of the Bengal rice famine in 1943, emerged a talent honed and polished to anguished brilliance by those tragic events. It was a talent that was to influence the contemporary art movement of the entire subcontinent. Zainul Abedin was born in Kishoreganj in the Mymensingh district of Bengal in 1914. The son of a police officer, the boy spent his childhood happily playing by river banks of the great Brahmaputra river. In later years, he was to say, it was the influence of the river that tempered the strong linear quality of his work with generous loops and curves. Growing into a teenager Abedin found himself at odds [[image]] with his parents, who had mapped out a career for him in the police, and were disturbed by their son's overriding interest in impractical matters. It was his school principal, a cultured and enlightened man, who persuaded Abedin's parents to send him to Calcutta for an education in art. The boy's mother sold a gold necklace to finance the venture, while his father pledges a monthly sum of ten rupees-all that he could afford. Thus, Abedin began formal study at the Calcutta School of Art, where distinguished painter, Mukul De was principal. At that time, the 'New Bengal School of Art' was at its zenith and like his contemporaries, Zainul Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy and the outstanding portrait painter of the group, Atul Bose. [[image]] Even in those days, ten rupees was hardly sufficient to meet the monthly needs of a student, and Mukul De, impressed by the boy's talent, arranged a further scholarship of fifteen rupees. And so, with an allowance of twenty-five rupees each month, Abedin completed his art studies. Graduating with Honours in 1938, Abedin accepted a teaching post at the same institute. Innovative and individual in his approach, Abedin soon moved away form the 'New Bengal School'methodology, exploring the interaction between art and contemporary life, finding his inspiration in the common man. Zainul Abedin delighted in spending the long summer holidays in the Santhal Parganas, drawing and painting the landscapes and the graceful men and women of the Santhal tribes. And during this period, Abedin participated in a number of art exhibitions, in Europe and at home. In 1938, Abedin was awarded the Gold Medal in an 'All India Art Exhibition' for his watercolours of the Brahmaputra river. At that time, his paintings were idealised, romantic studies of [[right margin]] The Herald, September 1990
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