Maqbool Fida Husain (India, 1915-2011)


Untitled Signed 'Husain' lower rightAcrylic on canvas76 x 125.5 cm (29 15/16 x 49 7/16in).
|Provenance:Private Collection, Dubai;Bodhi Art, India.Husain was a founding member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group in 1947. Its inception at the J. J. School of Art, only months after the partition, was against the backdrop of a socially fractured landscape. Husain, along with Raza, Souza, Ara, Gade and Bakre, sought to create a new movement in Art from India, distancing themselves from the nationalist rhetoric of the Bengal School. Hailing from different faiths and castes, they strove to create a style, and with it, an outlook, that was distinctly Indian and Modern.Husain's earliest works had an expressionist quality. He employed a technique of paint application using broad brush strokes and impasto to create a sense of dynamism and energy. His later paintings employed colour for the same purpose - the works themselves had larger swathes of primary colours with less density to the paint, definition brought in with bold outlines of the subjects. This work showcases a number of Husain's styles, the background is textured and applied with fervour, the subjects of the painting are defined using marker pen. The simplicity of lines are testament to Husain's skill as a draughtsman. This dynamic work depicts a herd of elephants, red eyed and frought, entrapped in a cage like forest structure. An orb thought bubble featuring the god Ganesha floats in the upper right hand corner of the painting. It is as though the elephants are calling out to the elephant headed god or charging towards him, thwarted by an abstract fence.Ganesha was a patron of the arts and sciences. He is worshipped at the beginning of any endeavour as he is considered the remover of obstacles and the god of beginnings.There has always been some contention regarding Husain's depiction of Hindu deities, particularly as a Muslim artist. He was forced into self imposed exile after the controversy of his depiction of Parvati. There is, however, no question that Husain is a totally Indian artist. His works adorn Delhi International Airport and has been how the Indian government has chosen to greet global visitors upon arrival. It is in his all encompassing Indian identity that Husain's work depicts so many facets of Indian culture, from the sacred to the mundane.