{{Short description|Bangladeshi painter (1932–2014)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox artist | name = Qayyum Chowdhury | image = Qayyum Chowdhury 1960.png | caption = Chowdhury in 1960 | native_name = কাইয়ুম চৌধুরী | native_name_lang = bn | birth_date = {{birth date|1932|3|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Feni, Bengal Presidency, British India | death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|11|30|1932|3|9|df=y}} | death_place = Dhaka, Bangladesh | field = Painting, book design and illustration | awards = Ekushey Padak (1984) }}
'''Qayyum Chowdhury''' (9 March 1932 – 30 November 2014)<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-177188|title=Qayyum Chowdhury's 79th birthday celebration|date=11 March 2011|work=The Daily Star|access-date=15 November 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name=collapse/> was a Bangladeshi painter. Along with Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan and Safiuddin Ahmed, he is considered as a first generation artist of Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/qayyum-chowdhury-56884|title=Qayyum Chowdhury|date=26 December 2014|work=The Daily Star|access-date=13 November 2017|language=en}}</ref> He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 1984 and the Independence Day Award in 2014 by the Government of Bangladesh.<ref name=ekushey>{{cite news|url= http://www.moca.gov.bd/site/page/c706da0c-29ee-4f0f-95d9-fa6705e19001/|script-title=bn:একুশে পদকপ্রাপ্ত সুধীবৃন্দ|access-date=23 August 2017|publisher=Government of Bangladesh|language=bn|trans-title=Ekushey Padak winners list}}</ref><ref name=indepen>{{cite web|url=http://brri.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/brri.portal.gov.bd/page/87944ec4_496e_415d_af37_27a10fb35625/Independence%20Day%20Award.pdf|title=Independence Day Award|access-date=23 September 2016|publisher=Government of Bangladesh|archive-date=23 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923180015/http://brri.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/brri.portal.gov.bd/page/87944ec4_496e_415d_af37_27a10fb35625/Independence%20Day%20Award.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Early life == Chowdhury was born on 9 March 1932 in Feni. His father, Abdul Quddus Chowdhury, came from a landlord family and was a cooperative-bank official. Because of transferring job, Chowdhury lived in Chittagong, Comilla, Narail, Sandwip, Noakhali, Feni, Faridpur and Mymensingh in his boyhood.<ref name=legacy>{{Cite news|url=http://dailyasianage.com/news/3703/the-legacy-of--qayyum--chowdhury-one-year-on|title=The legacy of Qayyum Chowdhury one year on|publisher=The Asian Age Online, Bangladesh|date=30 November 2015|access-date=14 November 2017|language=en}}</ref> His uncles, Mohtasambillah Chowdhury and Aminul Islam Chowdhury were writers.<ref name=versa>{{Cite magazine|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2010/04/03/cover.htm|title=An Artist of Exceptional Versatility|magazine=The Star|publisher=The Daily Star|date=16 April 2010|access-date=13 November 2017|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083401/http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2010/04/03/cover.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1949, he completed his matriculation from Mymensingh City Collegiate School.<ref name=legacy/> He graduated from Dhaka Art College (now Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka) in 1954.<ref name=collapse/>
== Career == thumb|right|Chowdhury in 2011 Chowdhury joined Dhaka Art College as a lecturer in 1957.<ref name=collapse/> He then took a job at the newly established Design Centre to work under Quamrul Hassan. Within a year he joined the then Pakistan Observer where he served as the chief artist. He also started working for the Observer group's other publications namely ''Chitrali'', a cine magazine and ''Purbadesh'', a news magazine.<ref name=versa/> He went back to Dhaka Art College in 1965.<ref name=collapse/> He was promoted to the position of assistant professor in 1970, to associate professor in 1986 and to professor in 1991.<ref name=legacy/> He retired from the organization in 1994 but he kept teaching in the institute until 2002.<ref name=legacy/>
==Works== Chowdhury's early work include ''"My Sister"'' (oil painting, 1954), ''"Pawnbroker"'' (oil painting, 1956), ''"Boat in Moonlight"'' (watercolor, 1956) and Self-portrait (oil painting, 1959).<ref name=legacy/> His later work were ''"Boat"'' (pen and ink, 2001), ''"Setting Sun"'' (pen and ink, 2001), ''"Secret Talk"'' (acrylic, 2004) and ''"Worried"'' (acrylic, 2004).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/an-epitaph-for-qayyum-chowdhury-53401|title=An epitaph for Qayyum Chowdhury|date=5 December 2014|work=The Daily Star|access-date=13 November 2017|language=en}}</ref> He held four solo exhibitions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-176914|title=Qayyum Chowdhury Turns 79|date=9 March 2011|work=The Daily Star|access-date=15 November 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-225523|title=Qayyum Chowdhury exhibition opens today|date=9 March 2012|work=The Daily Star|access-date=15 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>
Chowdhury began designing book covers by working on Zahir Raihan's book ''"Shesh Bikeler Meye"''.<ref name=collapse/> He designed the cover of Shamsur Rahman (poet)'s first poetry collection, ''Prothom Gaan Dwityo Mrittyur Agey'', and several books of Syed Shamsul Haque.<ref name=collapse/>
Chowdhury was a member of Bangladesh Bank's currency note design committee and mural committee and designed several currency notes in circulation.<ref name=collapse/>
Chowdhury had been involved with daily Prothom Alo since its inception in 1998.<ref name=collapse/> He was the convenor of the ''Charu Karu Shilpi Songram Parishad'' during the liberation war in 1971.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/nation-grieves-qayyums-death-52985|title=Nation grieves Qayyum's death|date=2 December 2014|work=The Daily Star|access-date=15 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>
== Awards == * First prize for Painting, National Art Exhibition in Lahore (1961)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Dhaka Art Center, Qayyum Chowdhury|url=http://www.dhakaartcenter.org/artist_directory/Qayyum_chowdhury.html|access-date=5 March 2021|website=www.dhakaartcenter.org}}</ref> * The Imperial Court Prize, Tehran Biennale (1966)<ref name=":0" /> * Gold medal for book design from the National Book Centre, Dhaka (1975)<ref name=":0" /> * Shilpakala Academy Award (1977)<ref name=":0" /> * Ekushey Padak (1984)<ref name=ekushey/> * 6th Bangabandhu Award (1994)<ref name=":0" /> * Leipzig Book Fair Prize for book illustration (1983)<ref name=":0" /> * Sultan Padak (1999)<ref name=":0" />
==Personal life and death== thumb|Chowdhury with his wife In 1960, Chowdhury married Tahera Khanum, (1935–2021) an artist who was one of the first four girls to get admitted to the Art College in 1954.<ref name=versa/> Together they had a son Moinul Islam Zaber.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/adieu-qayyum-chowdhury-52968|title=Adieu, Qayyum Chowdhury|date=2 December 2014|work=The Daily Star|access-date=13 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>
On 30 November 2014, Chowdhury fell sick while delivering his speech on the fourth-day of Bengal Foundation organized classical music festival in Bangladesh Army Stadium. He had been taken to Combined Military Hospital, where he was declared dead.<ref name=collapse>{{cite news|title=Painter Qayyum Chowdhury dies after collapsing at classical music fest|url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2014/11/30/qayyum-chowdhury-collapses-at-classical-music-fest|access-date=30 November 2014|agency=bdnews24.com|publisher=bdnews24.com|date=30 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/artist-qayyum-chy-passes-away-52789|title=Artist Qayyum Chy passes away|date=30 November 2014|work=The Daily Star|access-date=13 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>
==Documentary on Qayyum Chowdhury==
A documentary film on the life and work of Qayyum Chowdhury was directed and scripted by Fahmida Akhter (as "Fahmida Munni") in 2004 entitled "Nishorger Ankiey" (2004, Ode to Nature : Portrait of an Artist), produced by Bengal Foundation. ,<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTU9uuO9hKk|title=Nishorger Ankieya (2004) (Part-1) a documentary film on painter Qayyum Chowdhury by Fahmida Munni}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zcBicA84lA|title =Nishorger Ankieya (2004) (Part-2) a documentary film on painter Qayyum Chowdhury by Fahmida Munni}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{Artists of Bangladesh}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Qayyum}} Category:1932 births Category:2014 deaths Category:People from Feni District Category:Bangladeshi painters Category:University of Dhaka Faculty of Fine Arts alumni Category:Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Category:Recipients of the Independence Award Category:Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Category:Burials at Azimpur Graveyard