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In Maqbool Fida Husain's works, animals recur frequently as motifs, possessing graceful, energetic figures. The elephant and horse, through their form and depiction, encompass a plethora of references. Husain's various encounters with the figure of the horse extend across several decades, beginning as early as his childhood in Indore, spent in the company of his grandfather's friend, Acchan Mian the farrier, and extending to the work of... In Maqbool Fida Husain's works, animals recur frequently as motifs, possessing graceful, energetic figures. The elephant and horse, through their form and depiction, encompass a plethora of references. Husain's various encounters with the figure of the horse extend across several decades, beginning as early as his childhood in Indore, spent in the company of his grandfather's friend, Acchan Mian the farrier, and extending to the work of traditional Chinese artists like Xu Beihong and contemporary European artists including Franz Marc and Marino Marini that he encountered on his travels across the world.

Both the horse and the elephant are revered in Hindu mythology; the former as a symbol of the sun, of power, knowledge and fertility, and the elephant as a symbol of strength. When juxtaposed, they take on symbolic meanings, which Art critic Richard Bartholomew explains: "When we look at these creatures we must remember that the animal is not the subject of Husain's painting; it is the demonic principle that he depicts which is neither good nor bad. The nudes and the horses and elephants have become symbols of power and pursuit, or of mysterious encounters." ("M. F. Husain", The Art Critic, Bart, India, 2012, pg. 153) Here, they appear frantic, always in motion, attempting to escape the confines of the canvas. The contorting forms are reminiscent of certain aspects of Indian sculpture, such as the tribhanga, where the body would often bend at the neck, waist and knee. The hand assuming a mudra suggests the presence of another intangible force, adding to the frenetic pulse of the work.

Heightening the raw potency of this painting are Husain's stylistic choices, which helped push him to the fore of Modern art. He was a colourist who often devised unique colour schemes depending on the themes he dealt with. While colour lent a rich vibrance to his works, the bold, thick lines packed energy into each of his forms. The emphasis on the line was integral to his work, and Husain explained it thus: "Line is a virile force with keen latent mobility, which in spite of being imperceptible in nature, is constantly striving to assert itself." (As quoted in Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives). In works such as the present one, made in the 1970s-the decade in which the artist became immensely popular and had reached the pinnacle of his career-the line asserts its presence through thick, meandering boundaries of black, intensifying the feel of the painting.

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