Untitled

Mohammed Kibria is considered a leading exponent of the modernist movement in Bangladesh. Humble and contemplative, his quiet personality is reflected in the silent intensity of his work. “Kibria's paintings exude stillness yet radiate with life. When examined carefully these quiet details are frantic with energy” (J. Jalil, Kibria, Dhaka, 2008, p. 11).

Kibria was born in Bengal in 1929, and attended the Government School of Art in Calcutta, where he encountered the work of impressionist and post-impressionist artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Cezanne. He was impressed by their ability to manipulate color to influence energy and mood, and strove to employ this principle in his own body of non-representational work.

Kibria moved to Dhaka in the early 1950s, and in 1954, began teaching at the Art Institute there on the persuasion of his own teacher and mentor, Zainul Abedin. A few years later, he traveled to Japan for the first time on a scholarship, where he studied printmaking at the prestigious Tokyo University of Fine Arts. Kibria participated in several exhibitions in Japan, winning awards for his work, including the Starlem Award at the First Young Asian Artists Exhibition in Tokyo (1959) and the All Japan Print Exhibition award (1960). Deeply impressed by the aesthetics and simplicity of art in the country, he devoted his energy to minimalist, non-representational paintings, working to master techniques and create engaging abstract compositions rather than naturalist or narrative subjects.

On his return to Bangladesh, Kibria continued to win accolades in the arts, such as the Ekushe Padak (1983), the highest civilian award for painting in Bangladesh, and the Independence Day award (1999). Having dedicated 45 years of his life to teaching at the University of Dhaka, he was also bestowed with the title of Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Fine Arts there in 2008.

In the present lot, Kibria focuses on the abstract qualities of color, shape, and texture. He tells a story through technique rather than figuration, conveying the journey of his brush and paint upon the canvas. His layers of blues and greens are applied so skillfully, they appear to be simply emerge from the surface. Exploiting the subtle intricacies of color relationships, Kibria’s tones may seem to reject others in some areas while attracting them in others, to form deep hazes of pigment. He balances the softness of his palette with rough textural patches that complement the complexity if his colors. This work, painted towards the end of his artistic career, is a beautiful homage to balance, and exemplifies Kibria’s years of study and dedication to mastering technique.