Abdus Shakoor

Who is Abdus Shakoor?

Abdus Shakoor is a prominent painter and calligrapher from Bangladesh. He was born on 31 December in 1947 in the Bogra district of Bangladesh.

His work focuses on ancestral and historical themes, following in the folk-tradition of Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan, Jamini Roy & Qayyum Chowdhury. Common themes in Shakoor's paintings include Bengali folk motifs and ballads; the Mahua & Malua love stories as well as the Nakshi Kanthar Math and the Maimansingha Gitika. He has illustrated his works with folk-motifs. Peacock & parrots as well as elephants, bulls, cats, tigers, serpents & lizards feature prominently in his works.

All of Shakoor's compositions are bordered with free-flowing thick brush lines. There is almost no hard line in the paintings. His style has been compared with European artists such as Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee.

Shakoor has won many national & international awards such as the Excellent Award in Japan, National Award in Dhaka & a Unesco Fellowship in Italy, & is currently the chairman of the Craft Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dhaka University.