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Lot Essay
Maqbool Fida Husain moved to Bombay in 1937, starting his career by painting billboards for feature films and designing children’s furniture and toys. It was not until a decade later, in 1947, that he joined fellow artist Francis Newton Souza in founding the Progressive Artists' Group on the eve of India's Independence. Husain’s work underwent a seminal evolution in the decade following Independence, as he increasingly focused on subjects that combined rural life, mythology and symbolism, drawing inspiration from the historical visual culture of India as well as Eastern and Western modernist styles and techniques.
This shift was greatly influenced by a watershed trip Husain and Souza took to Delhi to visit an exhibition of classical Indian painting and sculpture. Husain recalls, “We went to Delhi together to see that big exhibition of Indian sculptures and miniatures which was shown in 1948 [...] It was humbling. I came back to Bombay in 1948 with five paintings, which was the turning point in my life. I deliberately picked up two or 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” (Artist Statement, P. Nandy, The Illustrated Weekly of India, December 4-10, 1983). From this moment onward, these influences acted as guiding principles in Husain’s oeuvre.
The 1950s heralded what are regarded as the most seminal and significant years of Husain’s career. During this period, he traveled extensively, not only within India but, for the first time, internationally. His trips to China in 1952 and Europe in 1953 were particularly formative. Untitled (Woman) was most likely painted while Husain was traveling in Europe, as he was honing the style of painting that would characterize his work in this decade. This jewel of a painting, depicting a seated woman in profile, combines all the classical influences Husain mentions: the sculptural quality of the bold figure, the strong colors of Basholi miniature painting, and the folk life represented by a village woman. Husain merges these influences with the modernist aesthetics he encountered during his European voyage in 1953, evident in the flatness and primitivism of the darkened face in profile, reminiscent of Pablo Picasso’s portraits of the 1930s.
This shift was greatly influenced by a watershed trip Husain and Souza took to Delhi to visit an exhibition of classical Indian painting and sculpture. Husain recalls, “We went to Delhi together to see that big exhibition of Indian sculptures and miniatures which was shown in 1948 [...] It was humbling. I came back to Bombay in 1948 with five paintings, which was the turning point in my life. I deliberately picked up two or 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” (Artist Statement, P. Nandy, The Illustrated Weekly of India, December 4-10, 1983). From this moment onward, these influences acted as guiding principles in Husain’s oeuvre.
The 1950s heralded what are regarded as the most seminal and significant years of Husain’s career. During this period, he traveled extensively, not only within India but, for the first time, internationally. His trips to China in 1952 and Europe in 1953 were particularly formative. Untitled (Woman) was most likely painted while Husain was traveling in Europe, as he was honing the style of painting that would characterize his work in this decade. This jewel of a painting, depicting a seated woman in profile, combines all the classical influences Husain mentions: the sculptural quality of the bold figure, the strong colors of Basholi miniature painting, and the folk life represented by a village woman. Husain merges these influences with the modernist aesthetics he encountered during his European voyage in 1953, evident in the flatness and primitivism of the darkened face in profile, reminiscent of Pablo Picasso’s portraits of the 1930s.