Maqbool Fida Husain (1915-2011)

Good overall condition. Extremely faint paint shrinkage upper right corner. Overall tone much warmer than in catalogue illustration, especially in brown background and golden brown impasto. Whites are also less bright and warmer than in the catalogue illustration.
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Executed in 1962, Udaipur belongs to a small group paintings from Husain's Rajasthani Series, which include such works such as Chittore, Group of Villagers and Peeli Dhoop (see detail). Although the Indian landscape is a predominant feature in Husain's work, landscapes devoid of humans are exceptionally rare.

Paintings from the Rajasthani Series demonstrate Husain's supreme skill as a colorist, and the current work is no exception. Thick layers of impasto delivered with brief swipes of the palette knife build the semi-abstracted architectural elements in the composition. The trumpeting elephant in the foreground, much like Husain's horses and tigers, projects a powerful sense of movement and energy into the lower right quadrant of the painting. The sense of movement is repeated by the use of shadow betwixt the buildings and archways, suggesting the winding lanes, courtyards and private gardens hidden within. 

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Husain traveled widely throughout the Indian subcontinent to experience the landscape and various cultures of India. During his travels, Husain was deeply moved by the varying scenery, the people he encountered, and the stories and artistic traditions that they had inherited. These scenes are visually narrated by Husain in the Rajasthani Series.

The appearance of this group of semi-abstracted landscapes at this stage in Husain's career is notable, for it was a period when his paintings came under increased scrutiny from his critics. Many felt that his reluctance to move away from figurative painting was limiting his scope and standing as a true artist of the Modernist movement. The Rajasthani Series of abstract and semi-abstracted paintings may have been Husain's aesthetic retort to this criticism.