Through the Eyes of a Painter

Archisa Mohanty

Through the Eyes of a Painter

Considered as India's most controversial artist of all times, Maqbool Fida Husain has made history through his vibrantly displayed story depicting oeuvres. Here's a story of his life starting from a self-taught artist to becoming the priciest genius with a paintbrush.

The art and the artist; Image Source: Quartz

To be called the Indian Piccaso and then opting to spend a life in exile away from the very country he was born in because his imagination wasn't acceptable...how did the world look through the eyes of this painter? He was born an Indian and he died a Qatari. Becoming an artist has been tough lately, there's only so much you are 'allowed' to go seeking with that imagination of yours before some people find you problematic and well. Here's a tribute to the life of India's most celebrated and complained artist of all times. (Yes, both at once)

When Husain started painting, he wouldn't have thought there would be a barrier to the artistic freedom one gets. But let's leave the issues behind and focus on how he managed to become so boldly successful. Husain introduced modernism in the Indian art field. Thanks to his concept of modernizing art, Indian artists today have the courage of going international and promoting their art.

M.F. Husain was born on 17th September 1915 in the Pandharpur town of Maharashtra. He wasn't even two when he had the misfortune of losing his mother, Husain thus grew up with no such fond memories of his mother. His father however got remarried and then took him along to Indore. After completing some of his early education, Husain spent his teen years in Baroda, learning the art of calligraphy. Calligraphy sparked up the interest for art within his mind and he then ventured into his marvellous journey.

By 1935, Husain had moved to Bombay in order to accomplish his desire of becoming an artist. He ended up joining the Sir J.J. School of Art.

Around his time of graduation, the Hindi film industry had been booming with a whopping amount of releases each year and the advertising needed more push. In the need of better painters, people were ready to hire. Husain took this as a chance to manage his daily life but also started working for a toy company. These were his flourishing days where he could explore more of art and was ready to grasp any or whatever opportunity he could in order to develop something more.

One of the major highlights of Husain's life as an artist was his idea of changing traditional Indian art and introducing the concept of modernism. This happened to be a collective initiative among his group of artist friends in the college. Together they had decided that the art in India has to evolve further in order to be known internationally and it wouldn't be possible until they embrace modernism. Since great minds think alike, together this group of fellow artists brought about a huge turn in India's way of creating art and the notions behind it.

These friends thus came together and formed the famous Bombay Progressive Artists' Group. Established in 1947, the group consisted of six founding members namely F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, K. H. Ara, H. A. Gade, and S. K. Bakre, along with other members like Manishi Dey, Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee and Tyeb Mehta.

As his paintings started gaining fame and appreciation, they became a target of controversies too. The controversies would normally be concerned with Hindu nationalist groups since it hurt their religious sentiments. A series of his paintings depicting Hindu gods and goddesses in their nude appearances made many unleash chains of wrath against him. They would attack his house and deliberately vandalise his paintings.

One of his most controversial paintings of all time is the nude portrayal of Bharat Mata which he produced in 2006. The painting was demanded to be withdrawn from all galleries and auctions as well and Husain was asked to apologize for the same publicly.

Despite being downtrodden by these nationalist groups and organizations, Husain's paintings gained fame and then became one of the best-paid paintings of all time. Despite his success and achievements, Husain ended up receiving horrifying death threats and had no choice but to leave India for his and his family's safety

Although under the radar of many terrifying organizations, Husain got decorated with many prestigious awards. He was given the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and the Raja Ravi Varma award. His paintings are still spread across in glory and very much appreciated among art enthusiasts till date. Husain passed away breaking away his path from this material world on 9th June 2011. He spent his last days in London and Qatar away from the country he was born in. Thanks to Husain, India has had some of the best collections of modern paintings and fearless artists. You are more of a successful artist than a controversial one!

For Husain personally, the partition had been a tragic event to kickstart a movement to express the misery and loss of many innocent lives. Knowing art, he knew there was no way better to express something so deep so as a new artistic movement. The Progressive Artists' Group thus became an ultimate force inspiring various artists to employ modernistic approaches in their artworks. The movement had largely gained momentum making these members become a pioneer of modernism in Indian art.