- 589
Maqbool Fida Husain
Estimate
180,000 - 250,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Maqbool Fida Husain
- That Obscure Object of Desire VI
- Inscribed "That Obscure Object of Desire VI" lower left
- Acrylic on canvas
- 50½ x 104⅛ in. (127.6 x 265 cm.)
Provenance
Sotheby’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 56
Condition
There are minor spots of discoloration along the upper and right edge of gray and yellow and possible minor wear at center near edge. Otherwise this painting is in overall very good condition, as viewed.
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.
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.
Catalogue Note
“[Husain] reacted almost instantaneously to events and things… was mesmerized by the ancient traditions of Indian dance and music, painted singers and dancers, responding to the syncretic customs that had made the subcontinent a cradle of spirituality. He was, first and foremost, Indian, rejecting the call and lure of other lands when his peers were settling in London and Paris, New York and Copenhagen.” (K. Singh, MF Husain: The Journey of a Legend, Stellar International Art Foundation, Geneva, 2014, p. 20-21)
Maqbool Fida Husain’s love and emotional attachment and responses to films were well known – so much so that he based a number of iconic works on some of the films that had the biggest impact on him, and had produced films of his own. In 1967, Husain directed his first film Through the Eyes of a Painter, which received the National Film Award for Best Experimental Film and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. He was able to convey a sense of playfulness with his works that was almost entirely reliant on his emotional response to popular media at the time.
Approaching these works in the same manner as the film directed by Luis Buñuel Portolés in 1977, Husain presents each image as a flashback, recalling parts of the film that resonated deeply and aligned with instances in his own life. The central concern of this 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.
“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, The Tata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd, Bombay, 1988, p. 26)
Maqbool Fida Husain’s love and emotional attachment and responses to films were well known – so much so that he based a number of iconic works on some of the films that had the biggest impact on him, and had produced films of his own. In 1967, Husain directed his first film Through the Eyes of a Painter, which received the National Film Award for Best Experimental Film and the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. He was able to convey a sense of playfulness with his works that was almost entirely reliant on his emotional response to popular media at the time.
Approaching these works in the same manner as the film directed by Luis Buñuel Portolés in 1977, Husain presents each image as a flashback, recalling parts of the film that resonated deeply and aligned with instances in his own life. The central concern of this 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.
“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, The Tata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd, Bombay, 1988, p. 26)