Born 17 August 1932
Died 15 August 2020 (aged 87)
Resting place Banani Graveyard
Murtaja Baseer was a Bangladeshi painter and artist known for his abstract realism themed works. He was also a poet, author, researcher, numismatist, and filmmaker. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh’s second highest civilian honor, in 1980, and the Swadhinata Padak, or Independence Day Award, Bangladesh’s highest state award, in 2019.
- Independence Day Award (2019)
- Ekushey Padak (1980)
- Sultan Padak, Narail (2003)
- Star Lifetime Award (2016)
- Best Cover Design, National Book Centre, Dhaka (1976)
- Academy Award by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (1975)
- Prix National, Festival of Paintings, Cagnes-sur Mer, France (1973)
Murtaja Baseer was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1932. His father Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah was an illustrious linguist, philologist, educationist, and teacher. After completing his graduation from the Government Art Institute, Dhaka, in 1954, Murtaja Baseer moved to Florence. He studied fresco at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence (1956-57), mosaic at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, and aquatint at Academie Goetz in Paris (1972-73).
In Florence he was influenced by the pre-Renaissance painters such as Giotto, Cimbue, Duccio and others. These influences would stay with him throughout his career. His creative talents have flourished in diverse forms and modes of expression, although a marked propensity for abstract realism is found in his work. Baseer was active in left politics during the 1950s and was sent to prison by the erstwhile Pakistan government. A leading figure in Bangladesh art, Baseer has often worked in phases, producing series of works, such as Epitaph (dedicated to the martyrs of the Liberation War of 1971), Wings (magnified details of the wings of butterflies) and the more somber Wall. Baseer is also a poet, short story writer, novelist, researcher, numismatist and filmmaker.
Notable among his many awards and accolades are the Prix National, Festival of Painting, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France (1973), the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award (1975), the Ekushey Padak (1980), the Bangladesh Charushilpi Sangsad Honour (1989) and the S M Sultan Padak (2003). He was a nominator for the Fukuoka Cultural Prize Committee in Japan (1992 to 2004) and taught in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Chittagong (1973 to 1998). Baseer lives and works in Dhaka.
