A tribute to Maqbool Fida Husain

The New Delhi-based socio-cultural forum, SAHMAT, paid a touching tribute to the legendary artist, Maqbool Fida Husain, bringing together his fellow painters, compatriots, performers, art protagonists and his ardent. His children shared memories of their artist-father.

The spontaneous anger generated by Safdar Hashmi’s murder in 1989 grew into a resolve to resist the forces threatening the essentially pluralist and democratic spirit of creative expression. Writers, painters, scholars, poets, architects, photographers, designers, cultural activists and media persons formed the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust/ Committee. From its inception SAHMAT has been a platform with a shared perspective.

Here is a tribute paid by SAHMAT to Husain:

“The easily the most iconic artist of modern India, Maqbool Fida Husain passed away in London on 9 June 2011. M. F. Husain was born in 1915 in Pandharpur. Bereft of his mother’s presence since childhood, Husain grew up in the multi-cultural milieu of Indore where his father migrated around 1919.

Indian civilization, in all its diversity, had been Husain’s basic inspirational project. Since the year of Independence, through the Nehruvian decades and thereon, cognizant of all the challenges involved in nation-building, Husain had been steadfast in maintaining a most affirmative relationship with the Indian peoples’ consciousness of their national identity. Through him, we have learned to address a whole gamut of issues pertaining to the interactive dynamic of modernity with the country’s many-layered art and culture.

Husain had made a signal contribution in reworking the aesthetic traditions of India including especially the tradition of iconographic innovation. He is among those few modern artists who had focused on mythological and epic narratives, and, for over half a century, he had painted themes from the epics in literally thousands of paintings and drawings.

This alone speaks of his passion for these narratives and, further, of his understanding that their literary, performing and visual form has changed through the centuries, and therefore carries the mandate for new articulations within the contemporary.

Equally important, these series of Husain paintings have been shown in urban and rural sites through unique modes of public dissemination. And it speaks of the generous comprehension of this project by viewers all over India, viewers who cut across barriers of class and culture, that they have been received with the affectionate regard and playful participation they require.”

Reviving fond memories of a true art icon

Many of MF Husain’s memories, major life moments, turning points and milestones that became an integral part of Indian art history itself were shared at an event to remember the late barefoot painter. The program was organized by activist group SAHMAT.

One of the SAHMAT members, Ram Rahman mentioned that the idea was to honor Husain, the forerunner of public art, who made immense contribution to public artscape of India. Here are the excerpts of an essay that the art body has hosted on its website to honor Husain:

Posterity will certainly name Husain as one of the most prominent post-Indpendence artists to shape the contemporary in the spirit of a living and changing tradition. More than any other modern artist in India, he has understood how a syncretic civilization and the dynamics of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious nation have together prompted these interpretations and empowered the community of artists to evolve a uniquely modern language consistent with the complexity of these civilizational narratives.

Indeed, he was such an iconic figure that we could use the very iconography of Maqbool Fida Husain, of the person himself, to forward ideas about Indian visual culture in the framework of a dynamic public sphere. Already, his life and work are beginning to serve as an allegory for the changing modalities of the secular in modern India — and the challenges that the narrative of the nation holds for us.

It is unfortunate that this very aspect of his persona led to a relentless campaign of vilification and calumny against him by fundamentalist groups since 1996. After a decade of standing up to threats to his person and vandalizing of his art works in public spaces, M.F.Husain went into a self-imposed exile in 2006. Four years later he was offered and accepted the citizenship of Qatar. The artistic community, secular and democratic opinion in the country however stood steadfastly with him and had been urging the government to bring him back.

We believe that India will be the poorer if a proper monument to Husain and his paintings is not created in the country for posterity…

Facets of late M. F. Husain’s personality

Paying a rich tribute to him, art connoisseur-collector Harsh Goenka stated (quoting The TOI essay): “Husain had his feet firmly on the ground, literally! A familiar figure seen at local 'chai' shops, he was equally at ease eating at Bhendi Bazaar’s (a central Mumbai locality) roadside stalls as at five-star restaurants, absorbing their sights & sounds and smells seamlessly, which went a long way in ensuring market penetration of ‘Brand Husain’ to cut across a broad social spectrum.

Artist Ganesh Pyne recounted that he worked at tremendous speed. More importantly, Husain was forward-looking and never looked back, he added. Jogen Chowdhury termed the great artist’s life ‘a rags to riches story’, remembering he signed many of his paintings related to Bengal in Bengali.

Akabar Padamsee came across Husain in the late 1940s when Raza, Souza and Tyeb Mehta were also at the Sir JJ School of Art. Underlining his role and legacy, Padamsee remarked that Husain was chiefly responsible for the art prices going up. When Bal Chhabra launched Gallery One in Mumbai in 1959, Husain was not happy that Raza’s works were priced at Rs 2,000 whereas he had put them up for Rs 700, at the inaugural group show.

When he was struggling he never complained, nor did Husain flaunt his wealth after becoming famous. He had a habit of wandering around, remembered Krishen Khanna. Indifferent to both politics and religion, he treated the gods and goddesses as visual stimuli. His cavalier treatment of them earned him the hatred of hardcore Hindu nationalist groups, which mounted a campaign against him in the 1990s. His deities painted in the nude, first in the 1970s, invited charge of obscenity.

Husain spent much of his time trying to defend himself against legal actions, and finally left his home country, pained by a spate of notices, cases and threats to his life. He inflicted a self-imposed exile, later becoming a citizen of Qatar. In 2008, the Supreme Court set aside a plea to prosecute him.

In spite of assurances of security from the Government of India, he did not come back. He had revealed: “I would have fought this tooth & nail, at the age of 40. But I just wished to focus on my work at this age. For the creator, these boundaries are merely political in nature. We belong to the whole world. And whatever I’ve done is so with conviction. If someone has felt hurt, I regret. However, my conscience is clear.”

The world media paid rich homage to '‘Picasso of India’

William Grimes in The New York Times

“MF Husain’s modernist reinterpretations of both mythic and religious subjects made him India’s most famous painter. Enormously prolific, he once claimed to have painted almost 60,000 works. The maverick artist developed his bright palette and sweeping brushstrokes whilst painting Hindi movie billboards. He skillfully applied the formal lessons of renowned European modernists like Matisse and Cézanne to scenes from the Mahabharata and to the vast Hindu pantheon. Madhuri Dixit and Mother Teresa were, in very different ways, his painterly muses.”

“A dashing, highly eccentric figure in impeccably tailored suits, the barefoot artist brandished a slim cane that turned out to be actually an extra-long paintbrush, on closer inspection. He never maintained a formal studio instead, spreading his canvases out on the floor of whatever room he stayed in, splashing paint with gay abandon, paying for any damage caused when he checked out.”

The Khaleej Times

Applauding the most recognized and representative contemporary Indian artist’s achievements, his creative genius and boundless energy belying his age, an obituary in pointed out that his creative life spanned well over seven decades and thousands of paintings. “Despite the controversies, which dogged him, he was a torchbearer of creative freedom. Husain was working till his death, dividing his time between Qatar, London and Dubai where he had his home, a studio and a museum.”

The BBC News

It termed him ‘India's most prized artist’, whose work fetched millions of dollars. Often known as the ‘Picasso of India’, he influenced a whole generation of Indian artists. Anjolie Ela Menon quipped that his ‘enormous body of work was matched by that of artist Pablo Picasso. MF Husain remained young at heart. He retained his verve, sense of humor, passion for life and also his amazing capacity to paint. He was a nomad, a gypsy!

Amy Kazmin in The UK Financial Times

The FT writer Amy Kazmin moaned that beacon of India’s modern art scene was no more, and added: “Husain’s distinctive works were often characterized by a rather unusual juxtaposition of colors and their bold forms. Famously prolific, he had a reputation for his ability to complete a painting just in the time it took for playing a record album. Mr Husain, with his peculiar white hair & beard, paintbrushes tucked into his pockets, was renowned for his qualities of exuberance and joie de vivre. Always walking barefoot, he sometimes though conceded to the vagaries of weather by wearing socks.”

A novel Artists Network to take Indian art on global path

The paintings in an interesting exhibition of Indian art that takes place in Jakarta’s National Gallery on behalf of the Indian Artists Network are all a curious mix of anything and everything.

Apart from religious and mythological works on view, also on display are slightly more earthly subjects that can be seen in K.M. Shenoy’s work. His drawings, entitled ‘Pity’ and ‘Portray’ deftly depict human figures and shades of emotions trapped in their own world. The skillful artist does so in what seems like a rushed style of sketching. At first glance, these pieces of art may look imprecise and rough. However, on deeper inspection, one realizes this very imperfectness of the style lends a character and energy to the works that are very much true to life.

The curator & the network founder, Ajit Vahadane, quips that the whole concept is to establish a direct link between the audience and talented artists whose works are on display. By showcasing Indian art in Indonesia, the Network hopes to nurture a closer relationship between the two countries and their blossoming contemporary art scenes.

As their website mentions, the Indian Artists Network for last several year has been striving to give exposure to Indian artists abroad. The non-profit organization is run by award winning, experienced, qualified and professional artists from India settled in the country or outside, in different part of the world.

The organizers have chosen and exhibited works of the various State award winners, National award winners, Gold medalists at college and institution levels as well as reputed art practitioners and teachers from across the world. It’s a professionally run body. Only full-time artists are involved in its operations.

The core aim of the Indian Artists Network is to showcase the best possible work of young and upcoming artists who need an exposure to establish themselves. It hosts shows of their works mostly in art venues outside India so as to take their art to the international audience. The venture is run with the support of genuine art lovers, sponsors and galleries and partly through artists’ contributions.

Depicting common human experiences in uncommon settings

The artworks, which form part of an interesting group show at Jakarta’s National Gallery, depict common and obvious human experiences that take place in uncommon settings and unusual scenarios.

Among those on display is Arabinda Aich’s ‘Tsunami’ that portrays a group of ubiquitous women who are caught at the cusp of impending disaster, trying to flee and protest from a giant wave. In spite of the subjects’ extraordinary circumstances, viewers cannot help but only sympathize with them, as they exude a binding thread of humanity.

Another work by artist Mahendra Padte prompts viewers to gently empathize with perhaps an unusual subject; it’s the Marvel Comics superhero, Spider-Man or ‘Confused Spiderman’ that portrays this web-suited crime-fighter curiously crouched who is caught brooding on a rock, wings sprouting from his back.

One can see a chameleon above him, clearly standing out from its immediate environ, apparently not in a position to do its usual trick of blending in. An unusual and perplexing pairing this, the duo seems to seek reflection on our part on the universal human concerns of fighting a battle of identity and truth.

The grand heroes of Hindu mythological sagas also surface in some of the works featured in the exhibition. These include ‘Life Story of Lord Krishna’ by Prakasha Sharma. Set in concentric layers, it’s a depiction of the young god’s life narrated in a series of captivating, colorful images that culminate in a portrait of the blue-skinned, bewildering deity.

Another contrasting blend of tradition with a contemporary touch is evident in religious or mythology-inspired art by Anjali Gawali. Her work is entitled ‘Kundalini Yoga’. The title denotes a Sikh-derived spiritual discipline that is based on an amalgamation of meditation and yoga with an aim to awaken in an individual a sense of infinity.

Vivacious visual representations of the different chakras (wheels of energy) are depicted blossoming, ascending and asserting themselves in symmetrical patterns. They are all painted in soothing soft, pastel hues.

An Indian painting exhibition in Jakarta

It has been for centuries and more that India and Indonesia have shared close cultural ties through trade, travel and exchange of ideas. A new group in Jakarta keeps the tradition going and continues this dialogue. It showcases a selection of emerging artists from India.

The Indian Artists Network has conceptualized and curated the 11th Indian Painting Exhibition that has just opened at the National Gallery. It continues till the first week of July. The aim is to give people in the capital city of Indonesia an opportunity to see works by some talented and award-winning artists.

Elaborating on the show and the thought process behind it, the exhibition curator and the network founder, Ajit Vahadane, has been quoted as saying, “The Artists Network had a meeting six year ago at Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery, where it was decided to launch an organization to exhibit artworks outside of India. At the time I was working in Jakarta, so I thought it would be a good place to start with.”

Many shows are held within the country, but emerging artists don’t always get a chance to showcase their talent abroad. Explaining the purpose of such an event, an introductory note on the Indian Artists Network site states, “India is shining brightly around the world in many walks of life. The whole world now has very high expectations from the country and is eagerly watching what India can offer and what really comes out of its talented people.

“Art from the country is no exception to this. Visiting any art venue abroad, we should ideally come often come across works of our talented artists. That’s the only single motive behind holding these exhibits. We want highly creative Indian artists to feature in a big way in the exhibitions abroad. For this we identify the best of talent.”