Maqbool Fida Husain

Purchased by a French diplomat from Kumar Gallery, New Delhi, 1959

New Delhi, Kumar Gallery, Eight Painters, 1959

There is a repaired tear in the canvas in the upper centre of the work, not visible from the front. There are minor abrasions around the edges of the work due to frame rubbing, and scattered abrasions and minor wear throughout. The thicker areas of paint, particularly in the brown figure on the right, contain areas of craquelure and minor losses associated with the medium. The painting is in good overall condition, as viewed.
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This painting is representative of the myriad of artistic sources that Husain used throughout his career. As Yashodhara Dalmia states 'Husain drew from the classical, the miniature and the folk and attempted to meld them into a language which formulated the present.' (Y.Dalmia, M.F.Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s-70s, Asia House, London, 2006). In 1948, Husain visited the India Independence Exhibition with Souza and was struck by the classical Indian sculpture and traditional miniature painting from the Rajput and Pahari courts. The artist describes the influence the exhibition was to have on his work "...it was humbling. I came back to Bombay and in '48, I came out with five paintings, which was the turning point in my life. I deliberately picked up two to three periods of Indian history. One was the classical period of the Guptas, the very sensuous form of the female body. Next was the Basholi period, the strong colours of the Basholi miniatures. The last was the folk element. With these three combined, and using colours very boldly as I did with cinema hoardings, I went to town. That was the breaking point... to come out of the influence of the British academic painting and the Bengal Revivalist School." (Husain quoted in Nandy, The Illustrated Weekly of India, December 4-10, 1983).

Husain's women from this period are portrayed with a dignity and strength that is both ancient and modern. 'The central concern of Husain's art, and its dominant motif, is woman... Strong angular lines and flatly applied patches of color are the instrument of the female form. Woman is seen either as a creation of lyric poetry, a sculpturesque and rhythmic figure of dance, or as an agent of fecundity.' (D. Herwitz, Husain, Delhi, 1988, p.46) As this painting demonstrates Husain's treatment of the female form is derived from the ancient tribhanga pose associated with classical Indian sculpture. There are three breaks at the feet, hips and shoulder creating a fluidity and rhythm that is distinctively Indian.