Growing up in Indore, the place his father was a timekeeper in a textile mill, a younger MF Husain was an enthralled spectator on the Muharram processions in his hometown. Whereas the festivities he witnessed influenced his artwork in myriad methods, the effigies of Duldul — the white mule that belonged to Prophet Muhammad — was to stay entrenched in his reminiscence perpetually. The motif of the horse, his equestrian trademark, continued to resurface in his works.
In an exhibition at Delhi’s DAG, which celebrates the maverick and his artwork, the horse seems in quite a few frames, representing assorted meanings over the many years. If a sequence of untitled acrylics positions two horses face-to-face, in a 2000 diptych, a herd in vibrant hues races throughout the canvas.
In a subdued 1972 ink and wax on paper, a falcon sits on its again, and the title Nude on a Horse is descriptive of the canvas. “Husain’s influences had been broad and appeared to make use of the horse to talk throughout communities and to regional, nationwide and world audiences,” notes artwork historian Rakhee Balaram, in a publication accompanying the exhibition.
Titled “Husain: The Timeless Modernist”, the showcase options over 115 works, from Fifties to 2000s. In 2006, the artist went on a self-imposed exile following a number of court docket instances that accused him of wounding spiritual sentiments along with his nude portrayal of Hindu gods and goddesses and a nude Bharat Mata. Although in subsequent years, the courts exonerated him, the artist didn’t return to India, and handed away in London in 2011.
“He continues to train a fascination for many Indians as a consultant of Twentieth-century modernism as no different Indian artist earlier than him. Even so a few years after his passing, he stays probably the most admired of our artists. It was to research this enduring enchantment and to pay homage to this well-regarded artist that we determined to curate an exhibition that supplied an overarching view of the range and vary of his work,” says Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director, DAG.
By the way, one of many central items within the exhibition is the Bharat Mata in Bharat Bhagya Vidhata. The contours of her physique mimic the map of the nation, along with her limbs folded to type the triangular peninsula. The main points embrace the mighty Himalayas standing above, and a determine of Mahatma Gandhi along with his strolling stick under.
Within the publication, Balaram notes, “Bharat Mata because the goddess of the nation acts concurrently as an inspiration and an aspiration, with the angle, triangle and different geometrical varieties pointing in direction of borders and their calculations: id, addition and elimination.”
The 78 × 69 inch, 1990 acrylic on canvas — that shares its title with an iconic mural created by Husain for the Tata Institute of Basic Analysis in Bombay in 1963-64 — options within the exhibition within the section “Thought of the Nation”, that displays on Husain’s concept of nationhood and secularism. This consists of works that emerged from his travels throughout the nation in addition to these influenced by spiritual traditions and texts such the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It additionally includes a sequence of images from the streets of India and works devoted to Albanian-Indian Catholic nun Mom Teresa, whom he reportedly first sketched at Palam airport, Delhi, in 1979.
The part “Freedom of Kind” consists of his line drawings and works from the sequence, “That Obscure Object of Want”, that stemmed from his fascination with Spanish-Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel’s 1977 movie of the identical title. Then there’s “Kumhar”, a sequence of toys designed by Husain within the Seventies — a reminder of his early profession, when he designed toys and furnishings at a kids’s studio in Mumbai.
The part “Deciphering Want” analyses the ladies he depicted from all walks of life, together with his late mom draped in a Maharashtrian sari, figures from mythology, ladies from strange life to Gupta and Khajuraho sculptures, public figures like Mom Teresa and film stars like Madhuri Dixit.
The guide additionally discusses the variant symbolism of the veteran’s work, the place the portrayals carried deeper meanings. The cow, as an illustration, represented productiveness, and the umbrella denoted shelter. The shoe portrayed journey by way of area and time.
Whereas every work is a testomony to Husain’s creative ingenuity, in “Monochrome Musings” the viewers have a more in-depth encounter with the artist’s spontaneous brushwork. “He was recognized for creating fast sketches on any obtainable floor that was at hand, from restaurant tabletops, napkins, to margins of newspapers, capturing moments, individuals and locations with immediacy and fluidity,” reads the textual content from the guide.
Within the part “Conversations and Connections”, we’re launched to his versatile portraits — of himself, those that influenced him and his patrons. “Whatever the type, what they’ve in frequent is a deep emotional depth,” says the textual content.
The following pages function his self-portraits, commissioned portraits of the Keehn household, with whom he developed shut relations and writer Ved Mehta on a canvas signed in Hindi, amongst others.
“Husain’s life and artwork are intrinsically intertwined, and you can’t separate one from the opposite. Virtually all his collectors have their favorite Husain tales. He had charisma as no different particular person I’ve recognized; his presence was electrifying… As individuals turn into extra aware of his work, his legend will solely develop,” notes Anand.
