M F Husain
(1915 - 2011)
Untitled
A major turning point in Husain`s artistic career came when he and co-founder of the Progressive Artists` Group, F.N. Souza, paid a visit to the India Independence Exhibition at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi in 1948. Here Husain came across Chola and Gupta sculptures, Rajput and Pahari miniatures, and various examples of folk art from across the country, all of which left deep impressions on him. Along with the country`s urban culture, these...
A major turning point in Husain`s artistic career came when he and co-founder of the Progressive Artists` Group, F.N. Souza, paid a visit to the India Independence Exhibition at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi in 1948. Here Husain came across Chola and Gupta sculptures, Rajput and Pahari miniatures, and various examples of folk art from across the country, all of which left deep impressions on him. Along with the country`s urban culture, these classical and traditional art forms became the main forces that guided the development of Husain`s signature style.
From Gupta sculpture, the artist learnt to communicate the movement of dance, the rhythm of music, and the sensuousness of the human form through his art. Inspired by miniatures of the Basholi School, Husain developed his vivid palette and understood how the painted surface could be structured. Finally, he imbibed the innocence of India`s varied folk art traditions, combining all these elements in his unique artistic vocabulary.
One of the most important components of the present piece, a diptych on board, is Husain`s confident and economic line. As Yashodhara Dalmia explains, "Above all else, it was the line that was Husain`s strongest element and he used it with a bounding energy in his work. The deft strokes that came from an early acquaintance with calligraphy now encased the figure in simple, economic points of intersection" (The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, p. 109).
Part of his Ragamala series of works of the early 1970`s, this painting evokes the classical nighttime ragas, savani and des. Depicting dusk as a thin line separating day and night, light and dark, Husain captures the fleeting moments in which these two ragas are meant to be sung. The onset of night, portrayed through the black that spreads across the surface from right to left, will soon envelop the singer, half woman, half peacock, silencing the notes she sings until the following nightfall.
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Lot
67
of
110
WINTER AUCTION 2007
5-6 DECEMBER 2007
Estimate
Rs 70,00,000 - 80,00,000
$184,220 - 210,530
Winning Bid
Rs 87,05,503
$229,093
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
ARTWORK DETAILS
M F Husain
Untitled
Signed in Devnagari (lower right)
Circa 1970`s
Oil on board
48 x 48 in (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
Category: Painting
Style: Figurative
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'