Important Notice

M F Husain began his career by working as a commercial billboard artist, an illustrator, and a toy maker at the Fantasy Furniture Shop in Bombay before quitting his job in 1947 to pursue art full-time. According to Ram Chatterjee, the toys created by Husain weren’t mere playthings, instead possessing a “monumental quality” that was a result of their formal beauty and decorative charm. (Kishore Singh ed., Continuum: Progressive Artists’... M F Husain began his career by working as a commercial billboard artist, an illustrator, and a toy maker at the Fantasy Furniture Shop in Bombay before quitting his job in 1947 to pursue art full-time. According to Ram Chatterjee, the toys created by Husain weren’t mere playthings, instead possessing a “monumental quality” that was a result of their formal beauty and decorative charm. (Kishore Singh ed., Continuum: Progressive Artists’ Group, New Delhi: DAG, 2011, p. 71)

Lots 45 and 46 reveal Husain’s command over his visual language and his versatility of working with varied mediums. The reliefs are executed with the same ease that he would possess while working on paper. At the same time, the works retain a certain structured fluidness that is an indication of Husain’s skill with the medium of wood.

Husain uses the limitations of the medium to his advantage, making the final product a play of line and colour. He also manages to project movement in these tiny works – one can actually feel the bumpy ride of the bullock cart, the gallop of the horse, the undulating movements of the rider astride his horse, and the gentle grace of the dancers.

“Making toys has really been an aesthetic adventure for Husain, inspired by the arrival of his first daughter he sat down to create a few things which would please and perhaps amuse her. Fond sentiments of the father combine with the vision of the artist in him to offer the little one a rare reception. But Husain the artist got better of Husain the father... he undoubtedly succeeded in creating through these toys a world of fantasy to please a child, but the artist’s creative prowess was much too large to be circumscribed by the boundaries of a child’s vision, which is the single most important factor that determines the design of a toy.” (Ram Chatterjee, Husain’s Toys, Bombay: D B Rajpally, 1960, p. 3)