M.F.Husain Exhibition, DAG, India

Recently, while in India for a brief visit, I was able to visit the amazing exhibition of Maqbool Fida Husain's artworks organised at the DAG art gallery in Delhi.

Husain saheb was associated with the socialist party of India and as a child, I had met him a few times, as my father's friend. While walking with him one evening in Connaught Place in Delhi, I had once asked my father, "Why does he walk bare-feet, can't he buy some chappals?" I don't remember if my father had answered my question.  I have already written about him earlier on this blog. I love his art.

In this post I want to share the 10 artworks of Husain saheb which I liked in the DAG exhibition. (You can click on the pictures to enlarge them)

 1. Mahatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru: I think that like Lohia and other socialists, Husain saheb was a little critical of Pandit Nehru, the first prime minister of Independent India in 1947. The painting above shows, Mahatma Gandhi turning his back and going away, while Pandit Nehru arrives triumphant like a bridegroom on a horse. This refers to the eve of India's independence, when Gandhi ji had gone to Noakhali to try to stop the riots caused by India's partition, while Nehru gave his famous speech in India's parliament, "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge ..."

2. Indian Flag and Mahatma Gandhi: This is another painting that shows Gandhi ji (below). It has a background of the Indian flag painted over a background of mountains and soldiers with rifles. Gandhi ji is shown sitting closer to the bottom of the central white part, partly hidden by a mountain. The blue Ashoka chakra of the flag can also be seen as a symbol of his spinning wheel (charkha).

At the same time, that blue chakra seems like a spider-web, perhaps to show that Indian republic had chosen to ignore Gandhi ji?

or perhaps, it is not Gandhi ji, but a representation of the China-India war? What do you think?

3. Durga: The third political painting among the works I have chosen, represents Indira Gandhi after the India-Pakistan war in 1971 and the formation of Bangladesh (below). Husain saheb had expressed his admiration for the firm role played by India to host millions of refugees coming from Bangladesh and the help given by Indian army in its liberation, by a series of paintings where India's PM Mrs Indira Gandhi was shown as the goddess Durga, represented by the tiger.

It is a coincidence that today (16 December) is an anniversary of the surrender of Pakistani army to India during this war. The painting also has the famous yellow-blue combination used by Husain in many of his works.

4. Mother Teresa: The fourth work that I have chosen is titled 'Mother Teresa'. Husain saheb had painted Mother Teresa many times. I like this painting, where she is shown through her blue-bordered sari while the persons she cared-for, is represented by a dying man (below).

At the same time, the painting is symbolic of India and its flag with parts in saffron and green, so that the white sari and its blue border can be seen as the white stripe and the blue chakra of the flag.

It is a diptych (two paintings joined together to compose a whole). The grey background seems to express the despair of the poor in the years following India's independence.

5. The Two Maqbools: For me, this was one of his most intriguing works in this exhibition. It was a part of a series of paintings on different religions where he had tried to represent each religion by its key messages and ideas.

There are two Husain sahebs depicted in this painting. The one on the left, has a dark shadow and something written in Urdu below it. I think that the shadow and the words express the physical persona of Husain saheb and his Muslim identity. The second figure, slightly behind and to the right, has his paintings behind him and perhaps represents the artist Husain saheb. The two figures are joined at the heart by a chakra.

The black-ink design is partly overlaid by a block of saffron-yellow square, I am not sure about its significance.

I am very curious to hear about the meaning of the words written in Urdu. If someone can read them (click on the picture to enlarge it), do write to me in the comments below.

6. Self-Portrait of the Artist: This is a more joyful self-portrait, where Husain saheb is surrounded by his favourite themes, which he had painted repeatedly during his life - Mother Teresa, the horses, Ganapati, the poor ...

I wonder why did he choose to depict himself in a military uniform with medals pinned to his chest in this painting? May be he saw himself as a soldier-artist on a quest to depict the soul of India? You can also see his bare feet in all his self-portraits.

7. Artist and the family portrait: This is another of his self-portrait as an artist where he shows himself painting the portrait of a family. Behind the family sitting on a sofa, some paintings of Husain saheb including an elephant and some horses can be seen. Is it his own family, where a child version of him is sitting on the ground in front? (Though the family looks more modern in setting and clothes).

Or perhaps, it is the family of his son and the boy with the yellow shirt is his grandson? What do you think? May be, it depicts his exile to Qatar in his final years?

 8. The autobiography: This is a pictorial autobiography of Husain saheb, which has a comic-book kind of quality (below).

On the top left, it has "A for Abdul" from Pandharpur in Maharashtra (where Husain was born), who sold and repaired oil lamps. Along the oil lamps, he has designed 2 hands raised in prayer. Perhaps Abdul was a childhood friend? or perhaps his father?

Then he has "F for Fida", the time-keeper in a textile mill in Indore. Was that an uncle or a beloved relative with whom he had stayed for some time?

"Z is for Zainab", his mother, her head covered, shown with an open book in front, denoting traditional family values of piety. Finally, he himself is there as "M for Maqbool", the painter as a young man, already bare-feet.

Apart from the horses, denoted as "H for Husain" (probably representing the importance of his art for him), the lower-half of the canvas also has the figure of his step-mother Shireen, who is shown younger, her head uncovered, sitting down relaxed with a hand-fan, that has a crescent moon on it. She seems to be the opposite of his mother's image. I don't know if the crescent moon means that she had left for Pakistan after partition?

I also wonder why he has avoided showing or his father or not specifying his father in this painting?

9. The Arrival: This painting was part of a group titled the Nudes and I chose this one to represent the wonderful use of blues and bright yellows in many of his paintings, which I love and which always make me think of Van Gogh.

This painting has 3 female figures, one front-facing and two seen from the back. The upper half of the main figure is nude and her face is partially covered by a couple of masks or moons. It was titled Arrival.

 10. Horses on a red background: The last painting of Husain saheb for this post is his favourite subject, "H for Husain and H for horses". I have seen some of his other horses-related artworks which I liked more, but in this exhibition, there were few horses. The blood-red background and the frightened-desperate expressions of the animals, make me feel a little uneasy, therefore I won't put this painting in my house.

However, I have included it in my list because it was his most loved theme.

Conclusions

I love Husain saheb's art. While preparing this post, by chance I came across a book by the socialist party leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohia for which Husain saheb had designed the book cover (below). When I saw it, I thought that it was a sign from him that he likes this post (or so I would like to believe!) I hope that you will enjoy reading it, as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.

*****

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