"I think drawing and painting human figures is not very easy, but what matters I the empathy one has, and it is this that I seek to express."
Every artist is bothered by the anxiety of influence - what is his relationship
to the past, and to past masters? This issue is pushed to the fore for Shamshad
Husain, son of M.F. Husain. Though he has chosen to succeed his father in the
medium of painting, he has carved out an individualistic...
"I think drawing and painting human figures is not very easy, but what matters I the empathy one has, and it is this that I seek to express."
Every artist is bothered by the anxiety of influence - what is his relationship
to the past, and to past masters? This issue is pushed to the fore for Shamshad
Husain, son of M.F. Husain. Though he has chosen to succeed his father in the
medium of painting, he has carved out an individualistic pictorial space,
working within the Indian tradition without finding himself hampered by
a legacy.
Husain's art schooling began at the M S University of Baroda, which he
describes as "delightful. There was immense freedom of experimentation, and there
were no walls between students and teachers." After graduating from Baroda,
Husain went on to the London's Royal College of Art. Here, he found a vibrant
and stimulating environment, while grappling with questions of his identity as
an Indian versus the Western influence of his late-Modernist British training.
The artist passed away on 24th October, 2015