Important Notice

M F Husain often juxtaposed human figures with those of animals in his paintings, as seen in the present lot. His pairings, whether of horse and rider, bull and peasant, or, as in this case, man and an assortment of animals, create a palpable tension that breathes life into his works.

"Husain's metaphor is rich and of great expressiveness. It brings a wide sweep to his way of looking at things, to his many approaches to reality. His... M F Husain often juxtaposed human figures with those of animals in his paintings, as seen in the present lot. His pairings, whether of horse and rider, bull and peasant, or, as in this case, man and an assortment of animals, create a palpable tension that breathes life into his works.

"Husain's metaphor is rich and of great expressiveness. It brings a wide sweep to his way of looking at things, to his many approaches to reality. His symbols and represented objects are often startling in juxtaposition because they are drawn from such far reaches of artistic memory. Dark, intuitive, sometimes traditional symbols are cast within a contemporary design and given meanings that seem valid for this and every other time. And if the innocent in art is also the original, as indeed it is, then innocence is the other noteworthy feature of Husain's work." (Shiv Kapur, Husain, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1961, p. i)

In this vibrantly coloured acrylic sketch on canvas, the central figure is that of a man wearing a turban and a dhoti. He is framed on either side by an elephant and a tiger respectively. Another human figure appears mounted on the elephant, while a large bird looms above the tiger. All the figures are animated, depicted in movement with the artist's characteristic and confident line, which speaks of "...great sensitiveness and energy. It is a versatile line, capable of both power and poetry. It divides his forms in firm definition, broods amongst his grouped figures...It lurks in women's faces in tender almost tentative hint, or threads sharply across his compositions like a scalpel, separating one figure, one face from the other in subtly differentiated tones of colour, as though he sculpted his figures from paint." (Ibid.)

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site