Painting price in Bangladesh: canvas, originals and murals (2026)

How much does a painting cost in Bangladesh?

From about ৳450 for a printed board to crores at auction. For a home, the useful range is ৳1,000 to ৳75,000: hand-painted decor at the bottom, originals by working artists at the top. The biggest jump in price is between printed and hand-painted, not between small and large. Our advice: skip the printed "canvas" sets and put the same money into a small original. A print has no resale value. An original by a named artist can hold its value, and you know who made it.

Painting prices at a glance

Dhaka's galleries run exhibitions all year, and Jago News put the range at those shows at ৳2,000 to ৳5 lakh in June 2026. Copies and digital prints in the city's souvenir shops run from ৳200 to ৳50,000–৳60,000, so a high price alone doesn't prove a piece is an original.

What does a canvas painting cost?

It depends on whether it was printed or painted, and listings rarely make that clear. Most of what Bangladeshi online shops call a "canvas painting" or "wall canvas" is a print.

• Printed PVC boards: from ৳450. A five-piece PVC set (36 × 18 inches, laminated inkjet print) sold for ৳450 on Othoba in October 2026.
• Canvas art prints: ৳800 to ৳5,000. Othoba's own price guide puts small canvas prints at ৳800–৳1,500 and large ones at ৳2,000–৳5,000.
• "Handmade" that isn't. Rokomari listed a "handmade" Arabic calligraphy wall decor at ৳1,093. Its material line said PVC board.

Prints are fine for a rented flat, a child's room or an office corridor. They're light, and many stick on with double-sided tape. Just don't pay more than about ৳5,000 for one, because at that price you can buy a hand-painted canvas instead.

What does a hand-painted canvas cost?

Usually ৳950 to ৳7,000 for a decor canvas, depending on size and detail. These are painted by hand but often to a set design, sometimes in several copies, so think of them as handmade decor rather than one-off art.

• Small to medium sizes. Art Fantasy BD lists acrylic landscapes on cotton canvas from ৳950 at 8 × 10 inches to ৳3,250 at 22 × 30 inches. BeshiDeshi's hand-painted canvases run from ৳1,800 to ৳4,200.
• Made to order. Asma Art Gallery listed a framed 20 × 40 inch oil-and-acrylic canvas at ৳6,800, down from ৳8,500. It takes about a week to paint and needs a 50% advance.
• Classified ads. Bikroy's canvas-painting ads ran from ৳150 to ৳50,000 in October 2026. Meet the seller and see the surface before you pay.

On JADUZ, these hand-painted canvases are by three makers:

Whispers of Light

৳1,500

Umme Tamanna, Mymensingh

Original hand-painted green acrylic painting on canvas

৳1,500

Umme Tamanna, Mymensingh

Whispers of Lilies — Hand-Painted Acrylic Canvas Wall Art, Framed

৳1,500

Sanzia Hossain Naisa, Chattogram

Made in 1 days

One of a kind

Crimson Voyage

৳2,000

Rafa's Paints, Dhaka

Textured and mixed-media seascapes sit in this band too. Our guide to textured ocean wall art explains how the raised waves are built and how acrylic texture differs from resin. Two small hand-painted pieces by the Dhaka artist Karunika, a textured seascape and a calligraphy canvas:

One of a kind

Ocean Melody

৳750

Karunika, Dhaka

Sold out

Islamic Calligraphy Canvas

৳300

Karunika, Dhaka

What do original paintings by Bangladeshi artists cost?

An original by a working artist typically costs ৳10,000 to ৳75,000, and a senior, well-known name starts around ৳2.5 lakh. At the same size and in the same paint, the gap is almost entirely the name.

• Emerging and mid-career artists. The online gallery Platforms showed works at ৳10,000–৳12,500 in October 2026. The Dhaka painter Sadek Ahmed lists acrylics at ৳15,000 for 12 × 12 inches, ৳20,000 for 14 × 14 inches and ৳30,000 for 24 × 24 inches.
• Established gallery artists. Cezanne Art Gallery in Banani lists acrylics at ৳55,000 to ৳75,000, and a 12 × 10 inch watercolour by Prof Abdus Shakoor Shah at ৳25,000. Bhumi Gallery lists Samarjit Roy Chowdhury (40 × 32 inches) at ৳3,00,000 and Anisuzzaman (45 × 64 inches) at ৳6,50,000.
• The masters at auction. Zainul Abedin's "Santal Couple" sold for US$381,000, about ৳4.17 crore, at Sotheby's New York in March 2024. Six months later an untitled ink-and-wash by Abedin fetched US$692,048, about ৳8.2 crore, in London, a record for a Bangladeshi artist.

Gallery directors give the same reasons for the gap. Waqilur Rahman, who runs Kalakendra, told Jago News that collectors pay for an artist's whole creative journey, not one picture. Regular exhibitions, recognition at home and abroad, and a place in important collections all push an artist's prices up, and most Dhaka galleries set the price together with the artist.

If you're buying your first original, start with a young artist at a group exhibition. New artists often price low to build a following, and you can talk to them about the work.

Oil, acrylic or watercolour: which costs more?

Oil usually costs the most, and watercolour and other works on paper the least, though a big name overturns that. Oil takes more time and material, so it's generally priced higher.

• Acrylic on canvas is what you'll see most, from ৳950 decor pieces to ৳6,50,000 gallery works.
• Oil is rarer online. Ask the seller to confirm it in writing, because "oil canvas" in a title can still be a print.
• Watercolour is painted on paper, so it needs a mount, a frame and glass. Add ৳500 to ৳1,200 for a large wooden frame.
• Mixed media and texture (paste, sand, shells) add hours. Bhumi Gallery listed mixed-media works by Sheikh Afzal at ৳3,60,000.

How does size change the price?

Bigger costs more, but not in proportion. Sadek Ahmed's 24 × 24 inch canvases have four times the area of his 12 × 12 inch ones and cost twice as much, ৳30,000 against ৳15,000.

Many artists price by area: height × width × a rate per square inch, plus framing, with a slightly lower rate for very large canvases. That is the common formula on Artwork Archive, a platform artists use to manage their work. Size isn't everything, though. Waqilur Rahman points out that a small work can sell for more than a large one because of its quality, rarity or idea.

So compare like with like. A ৳3,000 hand-painted 16 × 20 inch canvas and a ৳3,000 printed 48 × 24 inch board cost the same and are nothing alike.

What does a wall painting or mural cost?

If you mean a picture painted straight onto your wall, expect to spend at least ৳1 lakh. Dhaka muralist Kazi Istela Imam told The Business Standard in January 2026 that a mural budget shouldn't be less than that, and interior projects for offices and restaurants run from several lakhs to crores. Painted murals last about three to five years before they need repainting. (If you're pricing paint to colour a room, that's sold by the litre by paint companies and isn't covered here.)

For a flat you rent, skip the mural. A large canvas costs far less, and it comes with you when you move.

Is it an original, a hand-painted copy or a print?

You can usually tell in a minute with your phone camera and a lamp held to one side.

• Zoom in. Tiny coloured dots or a regular grid mean a print, even when it's mounted on canvas.
• Look for real brushwork. Hand-painted strokes change in thickness and direction, and the paint sits thicker in some places. A print is flat and even.
• Watch for fake texture. Some prints get a coat of raised varnish to imitate brushstrokes. The pattern repeats.
• Check the signature. It should sit in the paint, not look printed on.
• Compare with famous images. A perfect match to a well-known painting is a reproduction, painted or printed.

A hand-painted copy is still handmade, but it isn't an original and shouldn't be priced like one. Before you pay, ask whether the piece is one of a kind and whether the artist signed it, and get a receipt that names the artist, title, medium and size.

How much does framing cost?

A painting on stretched canvas can hang without a frame. Works on paper can't. Othoba's 2026 price guide puts a small photo frame at ৳150–৳350, a glass frame at ৳300–৳800 and a large wooden frame at ৳500–৳1,200.

Where can you buy paintings in Dhaka?

At gallery exhibitions, directly from artists, from online shops, and from makers on JADUZ.

• Galleries. Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts and Gallery Chitrak are in Dhanmondi, Age Gallery in Gulshan, Gallery Cosmos in Mohakhali, Studio Six by Six in Mohammadpur, Galleri Kaya in Uttara and Cezanne Art Gallery in Banani. Go to an opening: you see the surface for yourself and can meet the artist.
• Artists directly. Many painters, Sadek Ahmed among them, sell from their own sites or pages, and some paint to commission. Agree the size, medium, price and delivery date in writing before you pay an advance.
• Online shops. On marketplaces such as Othoba and Rokomari most wall art is printed. Read the material line, not the title.
• JADUZ. Every piece in wall art is handmade by a maker JADUZ has vetted, with the maker's name and district on it. Meet Karunika or read her story. Orders are cash on delivery, and you check the piece at the door before you pay (how that works).

Which painting suits a living room or bedroom?

Choose the size from the furniture under it. A painting above a sofa or bed looks right at no more than two-thirds of the furniture's width, hung about 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) above it. On a bare wall, put the centre of the picture about 57 inches (145 cm) from the floor.

• Living or drawing room: one large piece as the focal point, or a pair. Our drawing room decoration ideas cover the rest of the room.
• Bedroom: something quiet, such as a landscape, a seascape or soft abstract colour.
• Dining area or corridor: smaller pieces people see up close.
• A verse or a name of God: read our Islamic calligraphy wall art guide first; placement matters.

How do you hang and care for a painting in a humid flat?

Hang it on a dry inside wall, out of direct sun and away from heat and damp. Through the monsoon, damp matters most: high humidity lets mould grow on canvas, especially acrylics, and fast swings in humidity also do harm, according to the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute.

• Light: keep it out of direct sunlight, which fades some colours.
• Heat: never hang it above a heater or stove.
• Hardware: use sturdy hooks anchored properly in the wall.
• Dusting: a clean, soft brush, if no paint is loose. No damp cloths, dry cloths or feather dusters: threads catch on raised paint.