It remains a mystery as to why enough attention is not given to research on the life and works of artist SM Sultan. Claims of his reclusive and reactive nature often forced many to shy away from the master painter's presence.

Nasir Ali Mamun, against such odds, spent a significant amount of time with the artist in the village of Masimdia, Narail. Surprisingly, Sultan eased up to the "Poet of the Camera" like a fish in the water. It was like the 2 kindred spirits destined to cross paths between them.

The photographer could never imagine that those portraits would be used as valuable insight on the life of SM Sultan after all these years. The photographs depict the master artist's lifestyle in midst of nature and with his beloved ones during 1970s and 1980s, the most remarkable years of Sultan's career.

Mamun's fifty-eighth solo photography exhibition titled S M. Sultan- The Cosmic Journey of a Fugitive has begun at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka. Sponsored by Delvistaa Foundation, a book on the same title was also launched at the event. The exhibition showcases 27 of Sultan's rare photographs by Mamun.

"I first met S M Sultan back in 1976," said Nasir Ali Mamun, "From then on, I visited him 20 times and stayed with him every time for around 10 days at his place at Masimdia village of Narail."

Minister of Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Noor graced the opening as chief guest, which took place on September 20. Marie-Annick Bourdin, Ambassador of France to Bangladesh, Mario Palma, Ambassador of Italy to Bangladesh, eminent artist Monirul Islam, architect and artist Mustapha Khalid Palash, renowned art critic Moinuddin Khaled and the newly appointed director of Alliance Française de Dhaka Olivier Dintinger attended the event as honourable guests. Internationally renowned artist Shahabuddin Ahmed, together with a number of important artists and enthusiasts attended the programme.

Dedicated to Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, the exhibition is showcasing these historic and iconic photographs. Mamun tried to immortalise the inner spirit and philosophy of Sultan illuminating many hidden and obscure facets of the master painter's cosmic journey.

"Sultan alone is a beginning, as well as an end, who carried his own self in society until the very end of his life," Mamun reminisced, "Even such a long time after his death has he been capable of captivating us through his enigmatic personal life and artworks of alternative genres. SM Sultan the person and his paintings were independent from those of his contemporary peers and separate, yet he seemed to have mastered it despite the bohemian artist being detached from his society, living in his primitive residence. It was as if he never existed despite living in a sea of humanity."

"With someone like Sultan so much in discussion as a man ahead of his time, a person not many people could understand or decipher, who better than fate to decide than to pair him with famed portrait photographer Nasir Ali Mamun?" said Architect Mustapha Khalid Palash, who is also the co-founder of Delvistaa Foundation. "It was like a celestial match made in heaven where Mamun, as a person and through his camera, devoted a substantial period of his life by living with SM Sultan. He took him more than as a topic of understudy and devoted his time with him - staying with him, eating with him, hiding in the shadows whenever the artist wanted to contemplate in seclusion and more."

Art critic Moinuddin Khaled said that Sultan's life happens to be the most complicated and mired in the webs of mystery. Similarly his works depict the mystery, making him an artist of mystique. Now the question would be why Mamun chose to be with such a mystical artist. It was the attempt to capture Sultan's portraits by which Mamun could somewhat decipher Sultan's life perceptions and its definitions.

Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, well known as SM Sultan (1924-1998), went to Calcutta Art School and left it after three years without caring to take the degree. At the peak of his career the master painter painted robust figures of farmers in his native surroundings to glorify them.

He never forgot his humble background and returned to his own village and settled down there after holding exhibitions in Simla, Lahore, Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington and London with the dream of creating an art movement that would represent the people and culture of this land.

In London, his paintings were on display with the works of Picasso, Dali, Braque, Klee and other world famous painters at Victoria Embankment, Hampstead in 1956.

Sultan's first solo show in Dhaka was organised in 1976 at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and his second and last solo show was held at the Goethe Institut in 1987.

The government honoured him with Ekushey Padak in 1982 and Independence Day Award in 1994. He is the only artist to get the government's 'Resident's Honour from 1984 till his death on October 10, 1994.

The exhibition will remain open for all till October 5.