Maqbool Fida Husain (b. 1915)

Minor staining and spotting along upper and right edge in gray and yellows. Minor abrasion centre of right edge and scratch in upper left corner appears to behave been restained and retouched. Otherwise in overall good condition. but would benefit from cleaning. Colours of the original are considerably brighter and more vibrant than the catalogue illustration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

'Certain of Husain's series have been born as a response to films.  Perhaps the most important of these and among the most important of any of Husain's works, is his That Obscure Object of Desire.  Ranking Bunuel as a film maker of the highest importance, Husain began working on this series immediately after having viewed the Bunuel film of the same title.  He states, "I had been working on the Mahabharata series with its conflicts and then I saw the Bunuel film.  I decided immediately to turn to contemporary things."

'These series share an epical and cinematic concern with the fate of conflict.  To glean the point it is worth reviewing the Bunuel film which has inspired Husain's works.  The film is about a male character whose desire for a certain woman leads to entrapment.  The entrapment is that of a situation in which the man cannot tell who this woman - the object of his desire - is.  Specifically the woman turns out to be a dual figure played by two look-alike yet distinct actresses who play her as alternately passionate and cruel, enticing and rejecting, kind and humiliating.  The key is that the woman is an obscure object, one whose integrity and identity are in doubt.'   (D. Herwitz, Husain, Bombay, 1988, p. 26).

The central concern of the series is to question the nature of personal identity and the self-destructive potential of desire itself.  In each painting from the series, objects float in undefined spaces and the figures, though monumental in their presentation, remain tantalizingly unidentifiable.