Maqbool Fida HUSAIN (1915-2011) "Allegorical... Lot 1

Maqbool Fida HUSAIN (1915-2011) "Allegorical representation of an Indian bestiary". Oil on canvas, signed lower left and dated 1982. Dim. 101,5 x 77 cm Maqbool Fida Husain, better known as Mr. F Husain, is an Indian painter, of international renown, nicknamed the Picasso of India (also very active in the film industry with a Berlin bear to his credit). He was born in India and moved as a child to Indore with his father. In 1935 he entered the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay. Although he began by working on film sets, his career as a painter took off in the 1940s. He joined the Bombay Progressive Artist's Group, wishing to break away from the Bengali school. First exhibition in Zurich in 1952, during a tour of Europe where he met Picasso, Matisse and Paul Klee. In 1952, he presented his first solo exhibition, and was rewarded for his work in 1966 with the Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan 1973 and Padma Vibhushan 1991. From then on, he is one of the most popular painters in India. In 1971, he was the special guest at the Sao Paulo Biennale (Brazil) alongside Pablo Picasso. One of the specificities of his work is the research of the form with frank lines, sometimes angular. To this is joined a use of color very varied, becoming a vector of the tone of the subject represented, sometimes colorful and positive, sometimes darker and expressing strength and determination. The painting presented here illustrates the three emblematic animals of India, the elephant, the tiger and the monkey. With a deceptively naive appearance, the artist expresses strength, power and intelligence. The smaller elephant, playing with a ball, holding the world in its hand is (presumably) a representation of the deity Ganesh. Although associated with the notion of obstacle, he is also the deity of wisdom, education, and prudence. Provenance: Gift from the artist to the current owner on the occasion of a visit and exhibition of the painter in New York.