拍品专文
The portrayal of the feminine was always an integral part of Husain's oeuvre. While his forms often draw on classical Indian sculpture, they are also defined by Husain's confident line and bold palette.
In this painting of a female musician and group of dancers, one can see the bearing classical Indian sculpture had on Husain's early work, and the close relationship the artist perceives between music, dance, sculpture and painting. Drawing from the Sanskrit philosophical notion of rasa or aesthetic rapture, Husain sought to express each of these artistic forms through the two-dimensional surface of the canvas to afford his viewers a holistic aesthetic experience.
Discussing the classical stance of tribhanga (three axes or bends) in temple sculpture, which is reflected in the female figures in this painting, the artist noted that "in the East the human form is an entirely different structure [...] the way a woman walks in the village there are three breaks [...] from the feet, the hips and the shoulder [...] they move in rhythm, the walk of a European is erect and archaic." (P. Nandy, The Illustrated Weekly of India, December 4-10, 1983)
Speaking about his early female figures, the critic Richard Bartholomew noted, "The drawing is certain and daringly economical. The thick, muscular, exploratory line is broken or interrupted by blocks of bold colour. This line is different from the slender graceful line of the Pahari painters or the revelatory voluptuousness so characteristic of Matisse's drawing. Poise and resplendent colour, emotively used, provide the spectator the key to the prevailing mood." (R. Bartholomew, 'Ten Paintings by M.F. Husain', Thought, 12 April, 1958)
In this painting of a female musician and group of dancers, one can see the bearing classical Indian sculpture had on Husain's early work, and the close relationship the artist perceives between music, dance, sculpture and painting. Drawing from the Sanskrit philosophical notion of rasa or aesthetic rapture, Husain sought to express each of these artistic forms through the two-dimensional surface of the canvas to afford his viewers a holistic aesthetic experience.
Discussing the classical stance of tribhanga (three axes or bends) in temple sculpture, which is reflected in the female figures in this painting, the artist noted that "in the East the human form is an entirely different structure [...] the way a woman walks in the village there are three breaks [...] from the feet, the hips and the shoulder [...] they move in rhythm, the walk of a European is erect and archaic." (P. Nandy, The Illustrated Weekly of India, December 4-10, 1983)
Speaking about his early female figures, the critic Richard Bartholomew noted, "The drawing is certain and daringly economical. The thick, muscular, exploratory line is broken or interrupted by blocks of bold colour. This line is different from the slender graceful line of the Pahari painters or the revelatory voluptuousness so characteristic of Matisse's drawing. Poise and resplendent colour, emotively used, provide the spectator the key to the prevailing mood." (R. Bartholomew, 'Ten Paintings by M.F. Husain', Thought, 12 April, 1958)