Bangladesh has a rich custom of Art. Specimens of ancient terracotta and pottery show notable artistry. Modern painting was pioneered by artists like Zainul Ahedin, Qamrul Hasan. Anwarul Haque, Shafiuddin Ahnied, Shafiqul Amin, Rashid Chowdhury and S.M. Sultan. Zainul Ahedin earned worldwide recognition by his stunning sketches of the Bengal Famine in 1943. Other famous artists of Bangladesh are Abdur Razzak, Qayyum Chowdhury, Murtaza Baseer, Aminul Islam, Debdas Chakraborty, Kazi Abdul Baset, Mohammad and Kibria Syed Jahangir.

Bangladesh, which is today a discrete political entity, had once been a part of the Greater Bengal and shared similar cultural norms as those of the present day West Bengal. Before the separation of Bengal, artists from both sides of the divide traveled freely and the art of pre-independence Bengal shows marked references to scenes and motifs specific to areas which are now in Bangladesh. Artists like Jogen Choudhuri who were born in areas which now fall in Bangladesh took stimulation from Alpana drawings practiced commonly in Bangladesh villages. Many other present day artists like Ganesh Paine and Prokash Karmakar had roots in Bangladesh.

The greatest artist of Bangladesh, and perhaps one of the greatest artists of the Indian subcontinent was Zainul Abedin. He was born in Kishoreganj but had come to study art at the Government College of Art in Kolkata. His talent was recognized when he was only 24 when his British patrons arranged for an exhibition of his works in London and then Paris. Both the shows were enormous success. Zainul Abedin was however best known for his paintings on Bengal Famine of the 1940s. After partition, Zainul had to go to East Pakistan, though from the begining he was against the hegemonic rule of the new Pakistani Government. In 1970, he drew a scroll named ‘Nabanno’ in protest against the marginalizing of Bengali populace in East Pakistan. He also supported the freedom movement in East Pakistan. In 1971, Bangladesh was formed with the aid of Indian Military support. This brought new charter of life to Zainul Abedin as some of his best works were created after this period. Quamrul Hassan, second in importance to Zainul Abedin in Bangladesh was also a political voice and had painted on important political issues affecting the country. SM Sultan another important artist was born in Narail and had the opportunity to come to Kolkata in the year 1938. But after the partition of Bengal, he was lost completely to the art world.

Women have always created art. They have used visual language to express themselves. The concepts of high art and low art, minor art and foremost art, folk art and fine art, have been developed resulting in marginalizing the art of the many, women, native, and so forth to create a conventional hegemony. With the exceptions of Novera Ahmed in the 50s and Rumi Islam in the sixties we really see the first big doorway of women after liberation. In the independent Bangladesh; Farida Zaman, Shamim Sikder, Nazlee Laila Mansur, Naima Haque, Shadhana Islam and others finished their institutional art education in the seventies. They remained vigorous gaining fame and institutional recognition. The first group of women artists ‘Group of Four’ was formed in 1974 by Farida Zaman, Shamim Sikder, Naima Haque and Shadhana Islam.