Quamrul Hassan (Bangladeshi, 1921-1988) VisageQuamrul Hassan (Bangladeshi, 1921-1988)Visage signed and dated Quamrul '77 upper rightcolour and ink on paper, framed70 x 49cm (27 9/16 x 19 5/16in).ProvenanceThe Artist's Family Collection.ExhibitedExhibited in the National Museum of Bangladesh in 2012.This work comes from the last decade of Potuas life and his creative talents are on full display here. He merges figurative realism, coarse lines and the contrasting colours of blues, oranges and yellows to create a quintessential modernist work. He appears to have painted this quickly matching the ferocity of the individual depicted. Almost cartoonish, it is likely that this work was one of the many he created in response to the War of Liberation (1971) and its consequences. The War to gain independence from Pakistan, and to establish Bangladesh was filled with promise, but instead public servants, businessmen, politicians and the ruling class of the newly independent country were engaged in personal gain at the cost of the common interest. Potua found this unjust and he created a series depicting these people. He used symbols including snakes, foxes, lizards and tortoises, the latter being a metaphor for the slow pace of bureaucracy. In his cartoon from 1988 titled 'The Country is in the Grip of the Impudent,' his snake fox image of a dictator is one eyed, as is the work in the present lot, and this symbolises the inhuman face of the tyrant. This work therefore is a mature expression of his spontaneous creativity during this period, and illustrates his political leanings. To see a similar work dating from 1974 titled, 'Face of Man' see, Syed Azizul Huq, Quamrul Hassan, Bangladesh, 2003, p.71