Important Notice

M.F. Husain's "…earliest memories of artistic participation were with the making of the tazias in Indore where twenty foot high effigies of horses were carried in procession during the final day of Muharram, as symbols of the martyrdom of Imam Husain the grandson of the Prophet. These gigantic horses signified all the valour of the warrior for the young boy and they emerged in some of his earliest paintings as animated, powerful animals"... M.F. Husain's "…earliest memories of artistic participation were with the making of the tazias in Indore where twenty foot high effigies of horses were carried in procession during the final day of Muharram, as symbols of the martyrdom of Imam Husain the grandson of the Prophet. These gigantic horses signified all the valour of the warrior for the young boy and they emerged in some of his earliest paintings as animated, powerful animals" (Yashodhara Dalmia, "M.F. Husain: Reinventing India", Early Masterpieces: 1950s-70s, Asia House, London, 2006, not paginated).

The early years he spent in the company of his grandfather's friend, Achan Mian the farrier only added to Husain's fixation with the equestrian figure. As his oeuvre developed, "…Husain's horse swept across continents, amalgamating various influences into a composite form. The duldul horse, which he had seen from his childhood on tazias in Muharram processions, had been modified, first by the Chinese rendering of the horse, and then by the plasticity of form in Franz Marc and Mario Marini's balance between horizontal and vertical lines. Husain's horses, however, are singularly his own" (Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, p. 107).

In the present lot, Husain returns to the duldul horses he remembers from his childhood. Here, however, the steed, with its decorated mane and ornamental reins and saddle, is not being ridden into battle. Rather, it carries a miniature bridegroom holding a ceremonial sword and his new bride, seated side- saddle behind him. In its figures, this painting also recalls the early years Husain spent as a toy-maker and the doll-like figures of his vibrant series of paintings from the late 1950s titled 'Doll's Wedding'. In this seminal set of works, the artist drew on Indian folk art and lore as well as the designs he created for wooden toys some years earlier.

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