EVENING SALE | LIVE, NEW DELHI (8 SEPTEMBER 2016)

202-203 / 256

202 Saffronart | Evening Sale 203
From 1948 to 1955, Husain had travelled far and wide and
encountered several art traditions that came to influence
his work. His biggest inspirations came from Jain and Basohli
miniature paintings and the majestic female sculptures of
Mathura. Between 1952 and 1953, Husain visited China
where he was impressed with the calligraphic line in Chinese
painting, and Bern, the next year, where he came across
many European modern artists. These visits had a great
impact on his work. “These direct encounters released his
own intuitions and perceptions: in other artists’ use of line,
form, and color, and in their handling of symbols, he found
confirmation of his own inner promptings... The typical
high‒breasted and taut female figure of Mathura sculpture
represented in his eyes a principle of energy and dynamism...”
(Richard Bartholomew and Shiv S Kapur, Husain, New York:
Harry N Abrams, Inc., 1972, pp. 36, 38)
Husain’s paintings from the 1950s depicted subjects from
ordinary life. He had, by 1955, rooted himself in the modern
Indianart scene, withmanyof hisworks created ina folk idiom
that strove to encapsulate the mood of a post‒independent
India. According to critic Shiv S Kapur, these subjects were
“activity‒oriented,” expressed through a strong, rhythmic
line. Even in his choice of colour, Husain veered towards
earthy tones of brown, as seen in the present lot, as well as
reds and yellows that resembled vegetable dyes. Women,
as subjects, were to become a dominant theme in Husain’s
art. Aspects of the Mathura sculptures came to represent
his fundamental approach to the female form, characterised
by strong lines reminiscent of those used in Jain miniature
paintings. The present lot, an early Husain work, depicts the
nuances of form and line that were intrinsic characteristics
of Husain’s style during this time.
76
M F HUSAIN (1913 ‒ 2011)
Untitled
Signed and dated ‘Husain 55’ (upper
right)
1955
Oil on canvas
27.25 x 15.25 in (69 x 38.5 cm)
Rs 50,00,000 ‒ 70,00,000
$ 75,760 ‒ 106,065
PROVENANCE:
Collection of Uma Anand, India
Private Family Collection, Delhi
Letter written by Krishen Khanna identifying the present lot.