Maqbool Fida Husain

Acquired directly from the artist

Acquired from Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 19 July 2007

Painted in 2005, Revolution by Maqbool Fida Husain represents a tribute to freedom. On a large-scale canvas, a striking and symbolic composition unfolds. At the centre, a nude female figure holds a flag. She is flanked by other flag-bearers, classical columns, and an arresting woman, with flowing hair and outstretched arm, who stands faceless behind a dark obelisk. In turn, her arm covers the face of the Statue of Liberty, rendered in piercing sky blue.

The central woman’s stance directly recalls the protagonist of Eugène Delacroix’s, Liberty Leading the People. This iconic painting from 1830 commemorates the July Revolution of the same year, with Liberty presented as a woman of the people, bearing the French flag of France in one hand and a bayonet in the other. Husain perhaps makes further reference to this famed Revolution through the tricolour of red, white and blue which is formed from the nude’s flag and backdrop. Another symbol of freedom stands to the left of the composition, the Statue of Liberty of New York. A gift from the people of France to the United States of America, the famous statue honours the centennial of the nation’s Independence in 1876 and the alliance with France during the American Revolution.

With vibrant, infilled colours, dynamic postures and powerful iconography, the execution of the current lot speaks to the gravity and power of the painting’s title - Revolution - and showcases Husain's ability to portray historical events, recreating and reworking them into something undisputedly masterful.