Important Notice

All forms of art are born from one’s roots.” - M F HUSAIN

Though interpreted through a modernist perspective, M F Husain’s art was deeply rooted in Indian culture and often reflected his belief in the interconnectedness between the disciplines of music, dance, sculpture, and film. Highlighting this mastery that established him as one of India’s foremost modernists, Ebrahim Alkazi writes, “Behind every stroke of the artist’s brush... All forms of art are born from one’s roots.” - M F HUSAIN

Though interpreted through a modernist perspective, M F Husain’s art was deeply rooted in Indian culture and often reflected his belief in the interconnectedness between the disciplines of music, dance, sculpture, and film. Highlighting this mastery that established him as one of India’s foremost modernists, Ebrahim Alkazi writes, “Behind every stroke of the artist’s brush is a vast hinterland of traditional concepts, forms, meanings [...] It is in this fundamental sense that we speak of Husain being in the authentic tradition of Indian art. He has been unique in his ability to forge a pictorial language which is indisputably of the contemporary Indian situation but surcharged with all the energies, the rhythms of his art heritage.” (Ebrahim Alkazi, “M F Husain: The Modern Artist and Tradition”, M.F. Husain, New Delhi: Art Heritage, 1978, p. 3)

Husain’s encounter with classical Indian sculpture and vibrant Basohli and Jain miniature paintings at an exhibition in New Delhi in 1948 proved formative to his oeuvre and further emphasised his interdisciplinary approach to aesthetics. He once remarked, “I deliberately picked up two or three periods of Indian history. One was the classical period of the Guptas. The very sensuous form of the female body. Next, was the Basohli period. The strong colours of the Basohli miniatures. The last was the folk element. With these three combined, and using colours very boldly [...] I went to town… That was the breaking point…” (Artist quoted in Yashodhara Dalmia, “M.F. Husain: Re-inventing India”, M.F. Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s – 70s, London: Asia House Gallery, 2006)

The present lot embodies many of these artistic elements that Husain incorporated in his work, particularly classical Indian sculpture. According to art critic Richard Bartholomew, “... its flow of line, dynamism of movement and its presence determined and shaped Husain’s draughtsmanship, his grasp of the vital figure, the quintessential human image.” (Richard Bartholomew, “Contemporary Painting and Sculpture”, Richard Bartholomew: The Art Critic, Noida: BART, 2012, p. 91) The female figure, depicted in the graceful tribhanga or tri-axial pose characteristic of classical Indian dance and traditional Indian sculpture, brings a sense of movement to the composition. Husain believed that this three-part broken posture reflected the fluid, rhythmic motion of rural Indian women, in contrast to the “erect and archaic” walk he associated with Europeans. (Artist quoted in Yashodhara Dalmia, “A Metaphor for Modernity”, The Making of Modern Indian Art, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 102) Rendered with simplicity and restraint, the figure is sensual yet never overtly erotic.

The warm, earthy palette of yellows, greens, and browns recalls the vitality of colour in Basohli paintings that had delighted Husain as a young artist. Together with the verdant landscape inhabited by a pair of elephants, it also evokes the warmth and energy that he came to associate with the landscape of Kerala, which he first visited in 1968. Critic Shiv S Kapur notes, “With its ancient matriarchal society, stanch Dravidian faces, and simple fisherfolk, with its lush vegetation and sun, sand, and sea, this southwestern extremity of India beckoned to him as an idyll of contained form and emotion.” (Shiv S Kapur, Husain, Richard Bartholomew and Shiv S Kapur, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1972, p. 55)

The elephant is one of the many animal motifs Husain frequently used as symbolic elements in his work. Rich in meaning within Indian mythology, it is most notably associated with the elephant-headed deity Ganesha and Airavat, the majestic white-tusked mount of the Hindu god Indra. In Sanskrit, the term gaja gamini describes the fluid, sensuous gait of a woman, a quality often reflected in Husain’s depictions of the female form. In Indian culture, elephants symbolise strength, power, and fertility. Yet, despite their massive and commanding presence, the pair of pachyderms in this composition exude a gentle, maternal tenderness.

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