Important Notice

By the 1960s, M F Husain’s artistic style efficiently brought together European and Indian influences – as one can notice in the present lot, where Cubist-style nude figures are accompanied with the traditionally Indian elephant motif. It was during this period that Husain experimented with and mastered the forms and poses of classical Indian dancers, musicians, and ancient sculptures – particularly the well-recognised tribhanga pose. As... By the 1960s, M F Husain’s artistic style efficiently brought together European and Indian influences – as one can notice in the present lot, where Cubist-style nude figures are accompanied with the traditionally Indian elephant motif. It was during this period that Husain experimented with and mastered the forms and poses of classical Indian dancers, musicians, and ancient sculptures – particularly the well-recognised tribhanga pose. As explained by Husain, “One reason why I went back to the Gupta period of sculpture was to study the human form – when the British ruled we were taught to draw a figure with the proportions from Greek and Roman sculpture... In the East, the human form is an entirely different structure.” (Artist quoted in Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 102)

Animals frequently recur as motifs in Husain’s works during this period, possessing graceful, energetic forms. Depictions of elephants, tigers, and horses, which are revered in Indian mythology, refer to various qualities such as strength, energy, magnificence, power, and fertility in their myriad of postures and moods.

In the present lot, one can also notice Husain’s characteristic tradition of depicting a combination of three protagonists – in this case, a woman, elephant and, possibly, a man – to capture and convey a hidden, often heavily metaphorical, relationship. “A prolific artist, what went through M. F. Husain’s mind when he was painting remained forever a mystery, the artist preferring to let viewers and art writers arrive at their own interpretations. He took episodic moments from his travels – whether passing a slum, or observing a lovers’ tiff – and turned them into powerful narratives built around human relationships. Whether evocative of a myth, or merely a glimpsed vignette from life, he imbued them with a dignity that rendered them as powerful as any legend.” (Kishore Singh, “M F Husain,” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New Delhi: DAG Modern, 2016, p. 219)

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