Maqbool Fida Husain

Mr. Fritz Bohnert was in the Swiss Foreign Service and was 1^st Secretary in New Delhi between 1966 - 1972. The Bohnert collection was acquired during this time.

Good overall condition. Colors slightly lighter than in catalogue illustration. Light cracquelure to pigments on lower right beneath the female figure's drum, as viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In this large, muted canvas, MF Husain revisits an east-meets-west narrative, transposing mythic symbols and archetypes with cross-cultural reference points. Hindu and Greek mythology share a rich history of epic narratives, populated with divine and human players. Here, Husain transposes the tragic, solitary figure of the Minotaur together with a female nude and a Brahminy bull, suggestive of Nandi, Shiva's bull mount and guardian; and a familiar figure across the Indian landscape.

In the legend of the Minotaur, as the Greeks imagined him, the beast was born from an improbable union between the wife of King Minos, Queen Pasiphaë, and a white bull. Rather than sacrifice the bull as Poseidon demanded, Minos kept it for himself. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, then bewitched Pasiphaë. Through inspired architecture, Minos' queen consummated her passion for the bull and thus gave birth to the Minotaur: half man, half beast. Trapped in a labyrinth until his violent demise, the Minotaur fed only on human sacrifice and was held in fear by the population of Athens. The Minotaur has since become a symbol of tragedy at the hand of fate and the caprice of the gods, a lone figure punished for the actions of his ancestors.

Superimposed against the figure of the Minotaur, that dominates the upper and lower left quadrants of the canvas, is a nude female figure – the mother archetype fundamental to Husain's mythopoeic oeuvre. She turns her head away from the Minotaur and toward the dark void on the right third of the canvas, her mouth agape and legs contorted in a supine posture, holding aloft what appears to be a dhol, a double-sided Indian hand drum. The Brahminy bull balances on her right thigh – presumably that of Pasiphaë – raising its head toward the breast of the Minotaur.

"Husain's metaphor is rich and of great expressiveness," explains Shiv Kapur. "It brings a wide sweep to his way of looking at things, to his many approaches to reality. His symbols and represented objects are often startling in juxtaposition because they are drawn from such far reaches of artistic memory. Dark, intuitive and sometimes traditional symbols are cast within contemporary design and given meanings that seem valid for this and every other time." (Shiv S. Kapur, Husain, Lalit Kala Akademi, 1961, p. 1)