Waves of Impasto by Shahabuddin Ahmed, the Bengali artist
- Aakshat Sinha
- 2 days ago
- 10 min read
by Aakshat Sinha
“My intellectual development in art is based on constant work . . . there is so much to do, when will I do it?” – Shahabuddin Ahmed
Shahabuddin Ahmed’s self-portrait at the exhibition
Shahabuddin Ahmed, born 11 September 1950 in Narsingdi District, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Dhaka Art College (now Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka) in 1973 and on a scholarship studied at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (Atelier Louis Nallard), Paris, France (1974-81). He was closely involved in the Bangladesh Liberation War, where he served as a platoon commander and was an active member of the Crack Platoon, an elite commando unit of the Mukti Bahini.
Shahabuddin’s solo show Waves of Impasto , presented by Prashant Tulsyan of the Tulsyan Family Beneficiary Trust, and curated by Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya, is currently on display at Bikaner House, New Delhi (4-12 July 2026). Earlier, Shahabuddin has exhibited in many cities across the length and breadth of India, including at the President’s house in Delhi.
The works on display are from the early 1970s till 2015. I had briefly come across his artworks Attack (1983), Strong Man (1985) and Uncatchable (1994) online somewhere in 2009, when I was on the cusp of switching to art from my professional corporate life and I cannot underline enough the impact the chance encounter with these dynamic works had on my impressionable mind. This show has enabled me to stand in front of the works and silently absorb the thick impasto paint strokes, experience the strength and the dynamism of the composition, and feel the stillness of their hyperactive motion caught in mid-act stasis. The artists’ inspirations and evolving expressions are visibly obvious.
Left: Francis Bacon, Right: Three Studies for the Portrait of Henrietta Moraes 1963 Photos courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Shahabuddin credits Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin (1914-1976) as his first inspiration; while studying in Paris, attending a Francis Bacon show also had a serious impact on his art. Even in the works on display here, one can see inspirational remnants of Bacon’s style of morphed human figures and a sense of dynamism even as the figures remain seated or stand immobile. These works have compositions that are more planned and planar. The perspective, depth and movement within the canvas are reminders of European art theories of making the eye move within the canvas and using lines, forms and compositional gestures to create a three-dimensional world. The following works emphasize this.
Photos from Catalog/Book Waves of Impasto - Shahabuddin Ahmed
On display works at the exhibition
Then there are other works where generally there is one male figure composed in thick impasto paint strokes that lend dynamism and musculature to the figure. There is a sense of abstraction with incomplete features of the figures, suggestive of a glitch, captured in a motion blur of sorts.
On display works at the exhibition
“In the cracked attires of my characters, that some consider to be the reflection of the ‘freedom fighter’ or the athlete, is nothing more than the manifestation of the state of one’s suffering.” – Shahabuddin
It does make one wonder the rationale behind the artist’s style. The artist says he does not ascribe to violence post his own personal experiences during the liberation movement/war. And that he veers away from death as a subject; at the same time, a brooding melancholy, deep sorrow and aggressive slashes are evident from the works on display. An artwork can be interpreted in multiple ways by any kind of viewer for sure, but somehow I’ve always felt an undetermined force and aggression when viewing his works, which is something that has always captivated me.
His statements, “I don’t choose death as a subject because deep down, the nature of my interest is rather optimistic” and “I express my feelings, love and pain on canvas” should probably send out a different feel but I leave it to the viewers to assess for themselves what they feel when they look at these restrained yet dynamic explosions.
The show opened to a restricted gathering on 4th July 2026 at the Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA gallery), Bikaner House, which allowed for a more engaged viewing and exchange of thoughts with the curator, Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya and presenter Prashant Tulsyan. The two floors have around 50 artworks on display. The artist who lives in Paris with his daughter Chitralekha and granddaughters, unfortunately for personal reasons, could not attend. This obviously disappointed many, including me, who had never met him but really wanted to.
Anandamoy Banerji, who attended the preview, says, ”Not finding him on 4th July as he couldn't come was something I missed a lot and also missed his great painting of Banga bandhu Mujibur Rehman falling off the stairs when he was assassinated. My great salute to the great artist.
“When I think of Shahabuddin, I imagine him as a flamboyant character, a great artist, and a spirited child inside an adult. I heard about him for the first time from my artist friend from Bangladesh, Nisar Hossain, when we were in Santiniketan together, studying at Kala Bhavan. I always carried the feeling of that spirit inside me and wanted to meet him. It was when he was invited as a guest artist in the Rashtrapati House (Bhawan) when Pranab Mukherji ji was our President, I was fortunate to meet him in person as I was invited along with a few other Indian artists. The most important thing that I’ve always cherished in his work are the brushstrokes and handling of colours, which reflect pain, tension, and tranquility, all together. From Zainul Abedin to Francis Bacon is a notable trajectory while his works reflect his personality.”
Kiran Kethline Mohan, Art Writer, Curator, Moderator & Advisor reminisced,” Met Shahabuddin ji at his residence / Studio in July of 2024 in Paris. It was very humbling to have met an artist in his habitation amongst his fabulous creations. He fondly spoke about his love for our country - India and shared a few incidents as a youngster. It left me feeling touched by his simplicity and patriotism.”
The artist in his own words has mentioned about his experiences in Kolkata, especially during the Mukti Yuddha when the streets of Calcutta became a refuge for many like him, and the profound impact that it had on him as an individual and in his art. In the catalog/book released with the show, he remembers an occasion when he hid in the back of a broken taxi. He remembered it enough to later recreate it as a painting, not just as a testament to that fateful night but also as an association of the hardships, struggles, and memories which he associates with the city.
Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya found time to speak with me after the opening day. He shared how he first came to know of the artist and what all happened behind the scenes till the show was set up. From a chance opportunity in 2015 when he encountered the works peeking across the street exhibited at a gallery in Geneva that he was visiting with his wife and artists Manu and Madhvi Parekh. He was immediately enamoured by the works. He subsequently visited and met with Shahabuddin in Dhaka for his show where the artist asked him to meet him in Paris to continue the conversation. Jyotirmoy did so subsequently and expressed the desire to work with the artist. He was asked to return in six months, which he did, this time with Prashant Tulsyan whom he knew for some time and was working with on occasions. Prashant is an art collector. In Jyotirmoy’s words: "I have known him for a long time. In 2014 we started working together. He's a very good collector friend. And [has] very good eyes. He knows what he wants to do. And I have learned a lot of things from him.”
RM Palaniappan, a Chennai-based senior artist joined the conversation. This is what he had to say:
“The first time I saw his work. maybe 20-25 years earlier, in some print magazine or other. And I really liked it, the expression, to paint what you see. I didn't really know that he was not an Indian. Only when you (Jyotirmoy) told me, we are continuously traveling to France to collect these works and all that, I realized he's not from India. So, when invited for this show, I came down. its a fantastic, beautiful collection. And it has to be said that it's not only academic. The proportions and colors are so fascinating, much like European Impressionist school with so much abstraction but composed like a classical work . So, it is a combination of all these things. I really like the way he plays with light, with space.
“The artist's usage of a muted colour palette along with the deliberate heightened use of light (bright areas or strokes) to define both figure/posture and space is the highlight of his style. In RM Palaniappan’s words while responding to the work "On a summer day (1979), he checked the emotions of the two figures, the suppositions of these in two different directions. It has some kind of sensibility of sorrow and pain that is reflected in this work. It's gloomy and it is evident to some of us even here that it is academic but also dynamic. Because of the classical composition, the dynamism is restricted with the number of figures. But here in this work; it is fantastic. He is not even bothering about (managing) the space.
“So, for me the colour is okay. The play of colour is very beautiful, no doubt about the way he brought that light inside, within that colour. No, it is very beautiful. It gives perspective; gives space. And also, the landscape has a different language.”
Jyotirmoy, sharing more about his relationship with Prashant Tulsyan (Tulsyan Family Beneficiary Trust) said, “I have seen a force of professionalism within him. It's not hard core. Professionalism means you have to have a heart and also have a sharp mind. And then all together, I see in him a complete man who has a good eye for art. So, he helped me a lot and that's how we developed this relationship. Whenever I find something new, exciting, I always approach him and he's very open minded and friendly. That's how it started with this show too. I told Prashant we have to go and have a look. That's how it was.
"Prashant has a large collection. He's one of the important art collectors of India and has the largest (non-museum) collection of Jamini Roy, Jogen Chaudhary and Nikhil Biswas, and a lot of other contemporaries. For him, it is not just art but also about the artist as a human being. He met Shahabuddin, liked him, started collecting his works, and then we decided to do shows and books on him. Bringing the works here didn’t happen in one go but required proper documentation. We are presenting artists not just from Kolkata but from all of India. India is not a construct restricted by borders. It is the culture. Farmers in every part are the same. Look the same, eat the same. India is not the cities alone. It is the rivers, the farmlands, the culture of thousands of years. Bengal has seen so many partitions, turmoil. 1905, 1947, 1971.”
“Shahabuddin is first a Bengali, a Bengali artist.” - Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya
Prashant presented his side of associating with art and collecting it, despite being from a corporate world. From the age of 11 to 17 years, he studied art from a government art college graduate. This provided him the basics of noticing and observing, measuring, and drawing objects (still life) and people (portraits). He always loved to see art. This must have helped too. He acquired his first work in 1989, when his father, who was friends (classmate) with the artist, accompanied to the artist’s studio. Meeting artists and collecting art has been Prashant’s vocation. I find that Prashant is an art lover first.
‘I want our country [region] to know our own artists. This show has taken more than two years to happen and having met Shahabuddin and collected his paintings, we want to do a couple of more shows – in Mumbai next year, followed by a smaller one in Delhi again with works not shown yet, and maybe another book. Maybe now I want to do projects which are serious, which involve my time and effort, that of my colleagues, and do something really serious. Not just buying and selling a few works. It's no longer so interesting. So, at least we would have done something to take the artist's work forward and show people what they have not yet seen. From the reaction of the people, not many people had seen his work from the 70s and 80s. I think we have been successful in what we thought we would do. The lights were something that we aren’t hundred per cent satisfied with but the high ceilings and space make up for it."
"I think we were able to deliver 9.5/10 for our efforts based on the feedback and conversations with the visitors.” - Prashant Tulsyan
On display works at the exhibition
A room on the first floor is dedicated to an interview between the curator and the artist, shot in Paris in his studio. The 11-12 minute well-edited film is a must watch. It gives insight into the artist and his motivations. There is clear and apparent honesty in his words and a childlike smile not just on his face but more importantly in his eyes. Some screenshots and snippets from the interview should help understand the beauty of honest expressions.
I have visited the show thrice. I plan to visit it a couple of times more since there is so much to see – observe and discover in the paintings. It is after many years that I have seen a truly brilliant exhibition. One that is technically sound and experimentally contemporary. The impasto technique, the medium – oil on canvas and the compositions do take inspiration from the European masters (my recent trip to Italy, France and Netherlands simply refreshed the masters for me) and Francis Bacon’s dynamism is infectiously evident, but in all of this the artist with a past of the freedom struggle (that too in his early youth) has taken all, simmered it consciously, and expressed it with no inhibitions or filters. The male nude figure is athletic, fiery, feisty and at most places abstract-headed. It is obvious why the artist is one of my favourite living artists, with many international awards and recognitions like Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts & Letters), Paris, France and Olympiad of Arts "50 Master Painters of Contemporary Art" Barcelona, Spain.
The exhibition is open to the public from 11 am to 7 pm daily till 12th July 2026 at CCA, Bikaner House, (near Haldiram’s, Entry from Shahjahan Road) New Delhi.
(All photos and videos taken by Aakshat Sinha, courtesy of the Curator Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya, Presenter Prashant Tulsyan, Tulsyan Family Beneficiary Trust, and the artist Shahabuddin Ahmed, unless mentioned otherwise.)
Aakshat Sinha is an artist and curator. He also writes poetry and has created and published comics. He is the Founding Partner of artamour.
Reading this from the US, I felt that ache of missing a show I would not have missed at all
The backstory is stays with me...the war, Kolkata's streets, a broken taxi reimagined into art. There is so much memory in material.
Thank you for bringing this to those who couldn't be there. 🙏
Very nice 👌