MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN | Untitled (Woman on a horse)

Acquired in India circa 1960- 1970s
Private collection, Montreal
Acquired from the above in 2017
This work was originally from the collection
of an Honorable Judge of the Superior Court
of Quebec.

There is craquelere in the work notably along the upper edge, upper right corner and areas of heavy impasto such as the neck of the horse and the right foreleg. Tiny spots of loss in the lower right are visible only upon close scrutiny.
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This painting depicts a woman astride a white stallion. The motif of horse and rider is a classical one, referencing the rich equestrian tradition of India, and is repeated throughout Indian art history from the miniature to the modern. Long considered to be a symbol of power and nobility, and of man's mastery over nature, the notion is turned on its head by Maqbool Fida Husain. Instead, the horse itself takes pride of place, presented as an animal of vitality and grace, commanding respect and reverence. 
An earlier work by Husain depicts the subjects of horse and nude with similar conviction: 'In the painting Woman and Horse (1958) [...] the racing horse has the naked woman clasping him from below, her body charged with both revulsion and attraction. The horse, with its vigorous movement and virile form, charges ahead, racing with the sun as it were. The intertwined bodies, done with a black bolting line, are injected with a powerful charge. Many of Husain’s subsequent horses were to become distinctly mannered, emulating the original thrust of energy.' (Y. Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art - The Progressives, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, p. 108)
The present work bears testament to Husain's ability to depict not only a sense of movement, but also a detailed and powerful musculature with only straight lines and angles. So fascinated was Husain by the raw energy and power of the horse, that the animal remained a key leitmotif throughout his career, appearing frequently in his paintings. Husain himself spoke on the subject 'Art has to evolve from your very being, like my horses… I see them as ageless and immortal. They draw chariots in the great epics, they stand proudly in the poorest stables, they are embodiments of strength like the dragons of China.' (M. F. Husain with Khalid Mohammed, Where Art Thou, M. F. Husain Foundation, Mumbai, 2002, p. 23)