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Narail celebrates SM Sultan birth anniversary

PONUEL S Bose, Narail
The birth anniversary of master artist SM Sultan was celebrated yesterday at Sultan Complex premises in Masimdia village, under Narail district with great enthusiasm. The event was jointly organised by Sultan Foundation and the district administration.
On this occasion, Sultan Foundation undertook several programmes including placing wreaths on the grave of the late artist, special prayers, art competition for children and discussion.
Presided over by educationist Sharif Atiar Rahman, the programme had Md. Zohirul Haque, deputy commissioner of Narail and also president of Sultan Foundation, as the chief guest. Among others, Advocate Subhash Bose, administrator, Narail Zilla Parishad; Ashiqur Rahman Miku, member secretary; Ashok Kumar Shil, Principal, Bengal Sultan Art College; cultural personality Lily Begum; Enamul Kabir Tuku, secretary, Narail Press Club, attended as special guests.
SM Sultan was born on August 10 in 1923 in a poor family at Masimdia village. His father, Sheikh Messer, was a mason by profession.
Sultan's formal schooling started at the Narail Victoria Collegiate School in 1928 where he studied for only five years. Then he joined his father as an assistant in masonry. Being greatly influenced by his father's work in building houses, he started drawing and painting during his leisure.
Sultan drew a pencil sketch of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, son of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (renowned Bengali scholar and
thinker), at the age of 10, when Dr. Mukherjee was visiting Narail Victoria Collegiate School. This sketch impressed Dr. Mukherjee and others.
Sultan wanted to go to Kolkata (then Calcutta) to study art, but his family couldn't afford that. Finally, Dhirendranath Roy, an art-loving landlord, became his patron and Sultan went to Kolkata in 1938.
During his stay, Sultan came in close contact with Professor Shahed Suhrawardy, a great art critic of the time, a member of the governing body of the Calcutta Art School and brother of renowned politician Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy. Sultan enrolled in Calcutta Art School in 1941.
Sultan left the art college in 1943 after completing three years of his six-year course. To him the six-year course seemed too long. However, his results in college examinations were very good, as he stood second in the first year and first in the second and third year.
By his third year, Sultan realised he had little material needs and travelling attracted him more than formal education. He wanted to see the whole of India and embarked on his journey. During his travel, he made a living by drawing portraits.
During this period, his first exhibition was held in Shimla, though none of these works survived, mainly due to Sultan's own indifference towards preserving his work
After living and working in Kashmir for a while, Sultan returned to Narail in the wake of the Partition (1947) of India.
In 1950, Sultan went to USA -- exhibiting his work in New York, Washington, Chicago,
and Boston. He later held exhibition in London, UK.
In 1951, he left for Karachi, then West Pakistan. There, he taught art at the Parsee School for two years.
In 1953 he returned to Narail. Here, he built a school for children, and a menagerie. He lived in a house full of cats and snakes. Except for occasional visits to Dhaka (where he had his first exhibition in 1976) he lived in the isolation of his house.
A lifelong bachelor, Sultan settled down in an abandoned building in Narail overlooking the river Chitra, where he lived ever since with an adopted family and pets. Sultan would later build a mini-zoo near his home.
SM Sultan was conferred with the Ekushey Padak and the Cambridge University declared him as the 'Man of Asia' in the same year, in 1984. He was honoured with Charushilpi Sangsad Sammanana in 1986 and Swadhinata Padak in 1993.
SM Sultan died on October 10,1994, at Jessore Combined Military Hospital after suffering from a prolonged breathing illness.
After his death Bangladesh government established a two-storied building named 'Sultan Sangrahashala' (Memorial Gallery), to preserve Sultan's paintings, on the location of Sultan's homestead, in 2000.
Sultan tended to work heavily, all over his canvas, without living any empty space. His drawings spoke of the nature and the people of Bangladesh. His art has become the prime source of inspiration for the new generation painters. Leading a very simple life at his village home, the selfless painter was completely engrossed in paint and brush.