DHAKA, Aug 26 – A young Bangladeshi artist specialising in miniature works of art is hoping to have his works included in the Guinness Book of World Records, Xinhua news agency reported.
Mintu Dey already has 15 works on mustard seed, two on hair strands and three miniature books, one of which contains sketches of 48 world-renowned personalities including Mao Zedong, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
“I expect at least seven to eight of my artworks are worthy enough for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records,” Dey said Sunday.
Dey, 35, drew Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in acrylic on a 0.7mm by 0.5mm piece of paper in 2007.
The Mona Lisa, according to the artist, is the smallest piece of artwork in the world.
“I feel very proud because I made a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa on the smallest canvas,” he said.
Dey claimed that British artist Andrew Nicholas had previously drawn the smallest Mona Lisa on an 11 mm by 7 mm canvass.
“From my childhood I tried to make something exceptional. It was my target,” he said.
Dey was born in a village of Barrackpur in the country’s southwestern Khulna region. He obtained a Master in Fine Arts (MFA) in drawing and painting from the University of Development Alternative, a leading private university in Dhaka.
The serene beauty of the rural village by the River Bhairab inspired Dey to paint a landscape on paper in 1998 — his first miniature art work.
“At first I started to paint on 1 inch by 1.5 inch paper. Then gradually, my paintings became smaller until I started to paint on mustard seed,” Dey said.
Dey made all his miniature pieces without the use of a magnifying glass.
“At the very first day when I drew the world map on a mustard seed, it took me several days. In fact, I became sick because of my concentration,” he said.
Dey has also drawn colourful flags of 17 countries including Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Japan on a mustard seed and four flags were drawn on hair strands.
“Successively I made a miniature handbook on a thumbnail size paper. It is Bangladesh’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam’s Agnibina poem,” Dey said.
“The Guinness World Records Book keeps record of exceptional and astonishing achievements — I think my artworks can be included in the World Records,” he said.
– BERNAMA
