Abul Khair - The heart of an art collector

Eminent art connoisseur and Chairman of Bengal Foundation Abul Khair is an avid art collector who started his collection in 1974. An exhibition from his art collection, showcasing masterpieces by pioneer painters of Bangladesh and India, was on display at Bengal Shilpalaya, Dhanmondi in the capital until earlier this week. This writer recently caught up with Abul Khair, who spoke about his passion for collecting and promoting art. Excerpts:

“I don't exactly know when I developed a passion for the arts, but I remember my childhood days. My uncle, Professor Abdur Razzaque, father Abdul Khalek and mother Momtaz Khalek were great readers. My mother loved to sing and paint. While in the eighth or ninth grade at school, with permission from our headmaster I organised a solo art exhibition with my mother's artworks at the teachers' room of Armanitola Government High School."

“Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin lived just opposite my grandfather's residence. I would accompany Professor Abdur Razzaque to visit him almost every morning, have breakfast and discuss everything under the sun. To carry on their conversation without interruption from me, Abedin Chacha (Zainul Abedin) would draw something on a white paper, make a boat with it and ask me to let the paper boat  float in a nearby pond. The Shilpacharya would do the same thing a few times to keep me busy for another 15-20minutes. If I had known the value of his drawings at that time, I would have amassed a huge collection of the master (laughs).

“Prior to 1974 -- when I started collecting paintings, the paintings that I did have were the priceless legacy of Professor Abdur Razzaque who had 10,000 books and several paintings gifted to him by eminent artist Safiuddin Ahmed and Zainul Abedin. One of his notable works, which the movement of a cow, was part of those gifts and belongs to me now.”

“In 1971, when the Liberation War began, Professor Razzaque asked me to take all the paintings that he had collected to our village. 'It will bear fruit for you,' he said.”

“I collect paintings on Bengal Art from Rabindranath Tagore to present day artists. I have so far collected works by artists of 20 countries, through organising art camps every now and then. I am not much interested in Picasso, Rembrandt and others. Rather, I am interested in Bengal Art; because I want the world to know the rich art history of Bengal.” 

“I collect every Bengali master of Bangladesh and India. Say for example, 'Figuration', the recent exhibition, showcased my collection of masterpieces by the likes of Murtaja Baseer and Aminul Islam.”

“The painting that was sold at Taka 10,000 in the year 2000 is now worth Taka 10, 00,000. It has happened because of efforts of the likes of Subir Chowdhury and Luva Nahid Choudhury. It is interesting that the buyers are not from abroad; they are all Bangladeshi. As a visionary, I just convey the thoughts and ideas and they complement them with their own. The art museum that we are thinking of opening in 2017 at Savar, Dhaka will have exclusive sites for fine arts, architecture, crafts and more. We have kept positions for the craftspersons so that they can sell their products there. We, together with another organisation called 'Friendship' have also constructed a boat museum on the bank of the river Bangshi.”

“To curate and preserve the artworks I have collected so far is a gigantic task. Artist Nitun Kundu designed the best way to archive the paintings and artworks. You will get everything related to art in Bengal Foundation's archive. I am not blowing my own trumpet; but it's true that we have the best and the richest archiving system in Bangladesh. My passion and Luva's intellect have joined hands to complete the mammoth job.”