Safiuddin Ahmed: A spiritual artist

Safiuddin Ahmed, one of the most respected pioneers of modern art in Bangladesh for his personal style of modernism. Famous for his reserve and soft-spoken nature, Safiuddin lived the life of a recluse, away from the crowd and noise that accompany fame, which he never hankered after. His had been a pragmatic method which has galvanized his reputation as one of the pioneers of modern art in the country.As a leading practitioner of modern printmaking of the region, he is often considered a purist, one who works with the bare minimum with the intention to find a middle ground between the subjective and the objective. Being a classicist modernist he always adhered to a certain compositional strictures as the basis for visual encryption.
Safiuddin's art has mainly focused on rural panorama, pastoral life, landscapes, memories of 1971, Language Movement, floods and other natural calamities as well as Santal life. Safiuddin was a friend and colleague of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, and one of the founders of Dacca Art College (now the Faculty of Fine Arts, DU). From 1948 to 1979, he served as head of the department of printmaking at the institution.
Safiuddin was particularly known for his woodcut engravings. He devoted much time to a single piece of painting and print. Black is the predominant aspect in his works. From the beginning, the maestro had experimented with black and its mysterious tones, tenors and layers of colour. Most of his colours look muted and the message has always been one of peace and harmony. His paintings are technique-oriented as well. His lines have created a distinct language where one can learn about his perseverance, longing and devotion to art.
Safiuddin was born in 1922 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. He was a student of Calcutta Government School of Art and graduated from the institute in 1942. After Partition in 1947, Safiuddin left Calcutta for Dhaka, where he found himself caught up in a movement to set up the first art institute in the then East Pakistan. He was a friend and colleague of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. He was one of the founders of Dacca Art College (now the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka). From 1948 to 1979, he served as head of the department of printmaking at the institution.
Some of his outstanding achievements as a young artist included the President's Gold Medal (1945) by Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta; first prize in the category of black and white in International Contemporary Art Exhibition, New Delhi (1946); first prize in the category of black and white (etching and drawing) in Inter-Asian Art Exhibition in New Delhi (1947) and Patna Maharaja's Gold Medal (1947). He was a proud recipient of the Ekushey Padak and Shadhinota Puroshkar.
May 20 marked the 7th death anniversary of Safiuddin Ahmed.