Maqbool Fida Husain

Acquired directly from the artist circa 1996

There is slight wear to the edges of the canvas. There are a few small spots of loss present across the surface, visible only upon close inspection. The orange paint above the woman's left leg is discoloured but possibly inherent. This painting is in good overall condition, as viewed.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Maqbool Fida Husain paintings spanned through themes which dominated the Indian cultural imaginary—from depictions of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, portraits of Gandhi and Mother Teresa, the rural idyll of India to Bollywood. One consistent preoccupation for him was the iconic and domestic Indian village woman. He saw her as a symbol of strength and fertility: built of alluring curves in rhythmic motion, she carries a gathri on her head as a representation of the female burden she carries with her eternally. She is, in Husain’s eyes, epitomic of the poetic vitality, beauty, and tradition upon which India was built. The woman portrayed in Gaja Gamini, surrounded by white cows and balancing a newborn on her hip, is a captivating illustration of Husain’s paradoxically idealized and authentic Indian woman.
Gaja Gamini is an even more intriguing painting because it is a product of the eccentricity that categorised Husain’s decades of artistry. The woman is a depiction of the artist’s long-time muse Madhuri Dixit, the Bollywood superstar who first caught Husain’s eye when she danced onto screens in the 1980s and 1990s. Dixit's roots as a clascially trained Kathak dancer, facets of which—her ghungroos, gajra, and precise hand gestures—can be seen in Gaja Gamini. Husain was so infatuated with his muse that he made a film about her. In the film Gaja Gamini, Dixit plays many idealised women, including a version of herself, the Mona Lisa, and Shakuntala—a beloved subject of Indian painters.