Quamrul Hassan
99th birth anniversary of ‘Potua’ Quamrul Hassan today
Today marks the 99th birth anniversary of legendary artist Quamrul Hassan, famously known as ‘Potua’ for his brilliance in folk arts and remembered for redesigning the national flag of Bangladesh.
Born on December 02, 1921, in Kolkata, Quamrul graduated in fine arts from the Government Institute of Arts (now College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata) in 1947.
He came to Dhaka after the partition of India in 1947 and then helped ‘Shilpacharjo’ Zainul Abedin to establish Dacca Art College, now known as the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. He served there as a teacher from 1948 till 1960.
Through his portrayal of traditional aspects that he represented on his canvases using elements from the folk genre, Quamrul Hassan had contributed immensely to the country’s art scene.
Talking about Quamrul Hassan, renowned art critic Moinuddin Khaled said that people still fail to grasp the artist as not many of his artworks got exhibited. “Picasso was his idol, so his paintings have had similarities with Picasso, and the most important aspect of his paintings was his use of the metaphor - through which he channelled his protest against autocratic rulers like Yahya Khan before the Liberation War of Bangladesh,” Khaled addressed the art maestro to UNB.