Art for Kerala: Husain

AT THE ‘NGMA Art For Kerala Flood’ show, my donation to the land of my birth is M F Husain’s painting titled, ‘Madhuri’ from Gaja Gamini drawing which he did for me in 1996. Husain was a generous man, all through his life it is others who enjoyed his wealth he was a man of humble needs.

He would often fly down from Mumbai and meet me at Vadehras. In those days, when I wrote stories which would get published within 24 hours, he would be delighted to read it in Mumbai. Husain’s drawing reflects his ease and his passion. “At their best, his paintings are profound, but they are never forbiddingly intellectual or cerebral, ” said Ebrahim Alkazi, theatre director, and gallerist who remains one of India’s greatest collectors.

Universally acclaimed as one of India’s modern masters, Maqbool Fida Husain is unparalleled in his breadth of artistic vision and sophisticated re-contextualization of European Modernism. From his humble beginnings as a billboard painter, Husain successfully transcended the critical constraints of regional aesthetics and public opinion. Every single work by Husain is a paean to the Modernist idea that an artist is a visionary engaging in an act of metaphysical creation.

This work is done with a Modernist mode, it is the contours that are charismatic. Watching Husain draw was a fascinating experience in itself.

He would never begin from a corner he would begin somewhere in between and it would be a few minutes before the image would be crystal clear on the sheet of paper. This drawing celebrates the woman, it celebrates the eternal feminine allure of Madhuri who till date remains unmatched in the realms of dancing in Bollywood.