Lot 13
  • 13

Maqbool Fida Husain

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
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Description

  • Maqbool Fida Husain
  • Untitled (Blue Figure and Tiger)
  • Signed in Devanagari and Urdu upper right and further signed, dated and inscribed '26" x 26"/ Husain/ '64' on reverse
  • Oil on canvas
  • 26 by 26 in. (66 by 66 cm.)

Provenance

Bonhams & Butterfield Los Angeles, November 2003, lot 4041

Exhibited

London, Asia House, M. F. Husain; Early Masterpieces 1950s - 70s, 10 May - 5 August 2006 

Providence, Brown University, M. F. Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s - 70s, 5 February - 26 March 2010

Literature

M. F. Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s - 70s, Asia House, London, 2006, no. 14 illus.

M. F. Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s - 70s, Brown University, Providence, 2010, unpaginated, illus.

Condition

There is very minor paint shrinkage and four pinhole sized areas of loss in the upper centre of the canvas. This work is in good condition overall.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

This work depicts a blue figure riding a tiger. It can be interpreted as the goddess Durga astride her vahana, typically a lion but shown here as a tiger. Her three heads representing the trinity of Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi and Mahakali, the shaktiof Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra respectively. Husain produced similar paintings during the late 1950s and 60s. The multiple faces of the blue figure also references tribal masks, objects that featured frequently in Pablo Picasso’s work. Husain often mentioned Picasso as a defining influence.

‘Animal symbolism and masks are inextricably tied up with the religious tradition of every race. They represent an ancient community of basic identity between man and beast, a recognition by man of his own detail urges. In Indian mythology, gods are inseparable from the animal "vehicles" that express some of their attributes on a more basic plane. In certain cases gods are actually realised in animal form, or are viewed as capable of change from one form to the other, of transformation according to the character of the myth. As much as the animal symbol itself, it is this possibility of transfiguration, the protean quality of its image, that is of special interest to the painter. The mask represents an instrument of that transformation. It is the magical bridge between two planes of reality.’ (Richard Bartholomew and Shiv S. Kapur, Husain, New York, 1971, p. 46).