Maqbool Fida Husain (b. 1915)

'Husain's painted horses do not just bear majestic stateliness and striking beauty but also come alive in every mood, situation and form.  Their forceful movement conveys so much that it carries us away with it.' (Siddiqui, 2001, p. 112.)

Husain was fascinated with horses from an early age.  As a young boy his grandfather used to take him to the local farrier in Indore where he saw horses of all types: the thoroughbreds, the polo ponies, the cavalry horses and the common horse that pulled the local carts. His grandfather would tell him stories at night about horses and these horses from myth and legend became the building blocks for one of the artist's most enduring themes.

The horse and the nude is a common theme in Husain's work (see lot 74) but the current work has an additional figure added to this mythical realm, that of the wandering ascetic.  Such figures appear in his paintings that relate to the world religions but more specifically in his Varanasi series.  The combination of three powerful Husain symbols, the horse, the nude and the ascetic create a uniquely striking composition.