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lot 50

lot 50

Maqbool Fida Husain

Untitled (2 Horses)

acrylic on canvas
30 x 48 in. (75 x 121 cm.)
painted in 2011

Winning Bid: $ 220,000

Estimate: US$ 200,000 - 300,000

Lot Closed

Lot Details

Signed 'Husain' (upper left)
Dated '2nd April 2011' (lower left)
Painted on the day of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final match depicting India and Sri Lanka as the two stallions

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Dubai

EXHIBITED AND PUBLISHED
Legends & Icons: M.F. Husain, The Fine Art Advisory, Dubai, 2013, p.3 (illustrated)

"One of Husain's most perennial obsessions as an artist has been the form of the horse. His encounter with the horses began in his childhood in Indore - encounters which came in several forms with different associations, inspiring different emotions. His interest in it is not confined to a single aspect, rather, he is equally interested in the gentle, daemonic, mythical and the erotic associations of the horse, one of the most graceful and lively forms in nature. He has explored this aspect and its numerous variations in several paintings that draw the viewer's attention to the form of the horse rather than elicit any specific emotion. Altogether, the horse paintings of Husain done over several decades represent some of his finest works and demonstrate the power of his draftsmanship, his deep understanding of the myths associated with the horse in the multi-faceted Indian artistic and cultural tradition and his talent to invest them with a new contemporary meaning [...] (K. Bikram Singh, Maqbool Fida Husain, New Delhi, 2008, p. 169 & 192)

Maqbool Fida Husain

(1915 - 2011)
Born in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, in 1915, Husain moved to Mumbai in 1937 where he sustained himself by painting cinema hoardings and designing furniture and toys. A self-taught artist, Husain was invited to join the Progressive Artists Group in 1947 by F.N. Souza after his first public exhibition of paintings. Most recently, his work has been featured in solo shows including ‘M.F. Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s-1970s at the David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence in 2010; ‘Epic India’ at the peabody Essex Museum, Salem, in 2006-07; and ‘Early Masterpieces 1950-70s, at Asia House Gallery, London, in 2006. Husain was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, India’s Upper House of Parliament in 1986-92, during which he pictorially recorded its events, which were then published in 1994. The Government of India awarded him with a Padma Shri in 1966, a Padma Bhushan in 1973 and Padma Vibhushan in 1991, all high civilian honours. In 1971, Husain was invited to exhibit as a special invitee with Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil. In 2004, he was awarded the Lalit Kala Ratna by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. Husian passed away in London in 2011.