Important Notice

“Human beings, that’s all that is really interesting. You paint and you draw in order to learn how to look at human beings, how to look at yourself.” - M F HUSAIN

M F Husain continually challenged the existing practices and traditions in Indian art and revolutionised the country's art scene throughout his decades-long artistic career. From his rejection of British Academic Realism and home-grown Revivalist art movements in the... “Human beings, that’s all that is really interesting. You paint and you draw in order to learn how to look at human beings, how to look at yourself.” - M F HUSAIN

M F Husain continually challenged the existing practices and traditions in Indian art and revolutionised the country's art scene throughout his decades-long artistic career. From his rejection of British Academic Realism and home-grown Revivalist art movements in the initial stages of his career to his exploration of unconventional and often provocative themes and subjects until his final years, Husain's practice expressed a defiance towards convention and fearlessly yearned for liberation and freedom. As articulated by art historian Yashodhara Dalmia, "In moving from accurate depictions of reality to the unending possibilities opened up by the painterly image was akin to leaping across several centuries." (Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 101)

Husain travelled extensively during this formative period, assimilating the techniques, colours, and styles of Jain and Basohli painting, the sensuous forms of Mathura sculpture, and the energy and fluid lines of Chinese calligraphy. His encounter with the works of European modern masters including Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Amedeo Modigliani helped him hone his own intuition and perceptions regarding colour, form, line, and symbolism. These various stylistic influences, combined with his own rootedness in India, led him to invent a new and unique idiom. "And in doing so, he was to become a legend in his lifetime, a man who delivers the common man from the ordinariness of his existence to the international arena." (Dalmia, p. 101)

The themes in Husain's artworks are deeply informed by his personal annotations and beliefs, and his social consciousness. His works are rich in metaphors often communicated through figures in varied forms, including nude and abstract female forms, animal symbolism, and mythological and historical figures. "While his paintings do have an immediate social context, the essential concern of his art is archetypal: it explores the parables of life, love and death. The figures in his groups are for the most part given personal, not social, relationships. Each comes robed in its own solitary identity, the structure of the grouping accentuating the monumental character of the individual figure." (Richard Bartholomew and Shiv S Kapur, Husain, New York: Harry N Abrams, Inc., 1972, p. 58)

The human figure has always played an essential role in Husain's depictions of the diverse realities of India. "How can I go abstract when there are 600 million people around me in India? It is impossible for me to ignore the multitudes around me. How can I do that as an artist?" (Artist quoted in Yashodhara Dalmia, "The Rise of Modern Art and the Progressives," The Progressive Revolution: Modern Art for A New India, New York: Asia Society, 2019) The human figure accordingly became "the vehicle for his exploration of the nature and drama of reality." (Bartholomew and Kapur, p. 36)

Depicted in the present lot are two human figures engaged in dialogue, set within a seemingly rural environment. It is demonstrative of Husain's ability to breathe life and excitement into his canvases by bringing together two or more figures in close interaction with one another. As described by art writer Kishore Singh, "M. F. Husain is at his best when he brings more than one figure into a frame to establish a relationship and build on its accompanying tension. Whatever the nature of that affiliation, he manifests it with an energy that is irresistible." (Kishore Singh, "M F Husain," Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New Delhi: DAG, 2016, p. 220) This can also be observed in lot 17.

There is a narrative quality to the painting, as is characteristic of many of Husain's works. "A prolific artist, what went through M. F. Husain's mind when he was painting remained forever a mystery, the artist preferring to let viewers and art writers arrive at their own interpretations. He took episodic moments from his travels - whether passing a slum, or observing a lovers' tiff - and turned them into powerful narratives built around human relationships. Whether evocative of a myth, or merely a glimpsed vignette from life, he imbued them with a dignity that rendered them as powerful as any legend." (Singh, p. 219)

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