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)