In 1988, the Managing Director of former Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (now Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd) Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Bir Bikram sent a formal request to S.M. Sultan to create a painting on the liberation war of Bangladesh along with other paintings on nature, culture, and heritage. The painting titled 'Of Tragedy and Triumph' was the first commissioned work by a state-owned Bank for Artist SM Sultan in the country. This is the biggest Oil painting on Liberation War in Bangladesh.