Important Notice

Painted in 1979, the same year that Husain briefly met Mother Teresa for the first time at Palam Airport, the present lot is one of the earliest paintings from a series that would become the focus of his art for a significant period in later years."He could not find words to express his feelings in her magnanimous presence." (Rashda Siddiqui, In Conversation with Husain Paintings, New Delhi: Books Today, 2001, p. 200) Though Husain had... Painted in 1979, the same year that Husain briefly met Mother Teresa for the first time at Palam Airport, the present lot is one of the earliest paintings from a series that would become the focus of his art for a significant period in later years."He could not find words to express his feelings in her magnanimous presence." (Rashda Siddiqui, In Conversation with Husain Paintings, New Delhi: Books Today, 2001, p. 200) Though Husain had seen Mother Teresa in Calcutta on an earlier occasion, this meeting was a monumental point in Husain's life. He made a sketch of her on the spot. "She saw it and wrote 'God bless you' on the sketch and signed." (Siddiqui, p. 200)

"Mother Teresa was a true reflection of love for humanity. She was the greatest soul dedicated to humanity of all time. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. After that I began to paint Mother Teresa, for all 25 years." (as quoted in Nirmala Carvalho, "Indian "Picasso" Dies in Exile. He loved Mother Teresa", AsiaNews.it, 6 October 2011, accessed online) Such was his awe that Husain went to Italy, to study paintings of saints in order to advance his representation of her.

"Husain saw in her the artist's concept of motherhood hallowed both in Indian and western art... the spiritual dimension of Mother Teresa was as important to him as an artist, as her more obvious manifestation of motherhood." (K Bikram Singh, Husain, New Delhi: Rahul & Art, 2008, p. 229)

Husain depicts Mother Teresa as formless, in the Islamic tradition of not representing the divine other than through symbols, thus the white sari with the blue border.

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