Four paintings of the Independence Award-winning internationally-acclaimed Bangladeshi painter and freedom fighter Shahabuddin Ahmed have been sold on auction online through the international platform Sowda.com, in association with renowned art agency ARTcon.

The four lithography paintings - ‘Run’, ‘Horse’, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Horses’, were auctioned on the Sowda website on August 18 and all the paintings were sold at the auction on October 11.

Bidding the base price of Tk 150,000 for each of the four paintings following the auction rules, Obhai Solutions Limited has become the proud collector of the four artworks, painted by the legendary artist Shahabuddin Ahmed.

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The first of its kind international auction in Bangladesh, the month-long auction has received an overwhelming response from the top intellectuals, artists and art collectors in the country.

The online auctions were inaugurated at a virtual press conference on August 25, and joining from France, Shahabuddin Ahmed lauded this exclusive initiative. At the event, the acclaimed artist said, “I believe this kind of auction will gloriously represent Bangladesh to the international art community, and my gratitude goes to Sowda and ARTcon for being the much-needed global platform for this kind of initiative.”

On the occasion, renowned art critic Moinuddin Khaled discussed the artworks of painter Shahabuddin Ahmed. He said, “Usage of metaphorical language has been one of the most distinctive aspects of Shahabuddin Ahmed's work, and the uniqueness regarding the space composition of Shahabuddin is something that cannot be found in any other artworks in Bangladesh. To understand his amazing paintings and his uniqueness, one has to go through the ethnic history of the Bengali people and then one can understand why it is different from the European artworks and why his paintings are really invaluable.”

Popular actor and painter Afzal Hossain said, “The best thing about artist Shahabuddin Ahmed is that he proved his worth through his own style of works and his uniqueness, which cemented his legacy as the legendary painter of Bangladesh.”

Zakaria Swapan, CEO of renowned e-commerce platform Priyo.com and founder of its sister concern Sowda.com, expressed his excitement about this unique venture to UNB. "This is the first time in Bangladesh that online auctions have been launched, and being an international platform where anyone in the world can bid and buy products, we believe it has opened a new horizon.”

“It’s a remarkable matter of joy for us that we started this unique initiative with the internationally acclaimed legendary artist Shahabuddin Ahmed's paintings, and Obhai Solutions Limited has become the proud collector of these amazing artworks. We are very thankful to ARTcon for partnering with us in this venture through building the bridge between the artists and us," Swapan told UNB.

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Art Curation Agency ARTcon has collaborated with Sowda for this exclusive auction and brought Shahabuddin on board. Describing the initiative, ARTcon founder ARK Reepon said, "ARTcon has been working on building the bridge between the artists and art admirers and collectors since 2015, and through this auction with Sowda, we believe we have successfully launched a trend of virtually selling artworks for the first time in Bangladesh.”

“The appeal of paintings and antiques never decrease because of the aesthetic value, and also we have observed that there is a huge demand for these artworks among the global art collectors who understand the real value of the crafts beyond the monetary value. ARTcon has established trust between the artists and collectors through evaluating the artworks with its cutting edge technology and creative expertise, to avoid any kind of scam for both the artists and bidders,” Reepon told UNB.