Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art
Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, PRAGUE
Auction Closed
September 29, 03:32 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, PRAGUE
MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN
1913 - 2011
UNTITLED (FAMILY PORTRAIT)
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated '1961 / Husain' lower right
85 x 122 cm. (33 ½ x 48 in.)
Painted in 1961
Gifted by the artist directly to the family as Husain lived with them for a short time in Prague
Thence by descent
Despite being best known for his depictions of the anonymous, nude female form, Maqbool Fida Husain, on occasion, honoured his close friends and their families with intimate portraits. The current lot is one such work and depicts Dr. Lubor Hájek (1921–2000), his wife Jarmila and daughter Kristýna. Dr Hájek was a Czech art historian, known for inaugurating the discipline of non-European art history in Czechoslovakia and founding the collection of Oriental Art at the National Gallery in Prague in 1952. Dr Hájek became the collection’s first Director, holding the position for 35 years. The collection comprises one of Europe’s largest assemblies of twentieth-century Chinese ink painting, an art form for which Dr Hájek and his friend Husain shared a profound interest.