Maqbool Fida Husain

Acquired directly from the artist, 1993-94

The current owner's family were close personal friends with Husain, and he first met the famed artist in New York when he was just nine years old. His family formed a special bond with Husain and this painting was commissioned as a gift for his father's fiftieth birthday.

"Rau mein hai raksh-e umar, kahan de khiye thamay"

The horse of life is in full gallop, who knows where it will stop

- A verse of the Ghalib, inscribed by Maqbool Fida Husain along the upper edge of the current lot

'When my father's fiftieth birthday was approaching, the family decided to surprise him with a canvas by M. F. Husain. My father and M. F. Husain had a birthday in common - September 17 - and the artist was happy to engage in a bit of friendly conspiracy. He even generously accepted direction from my mother, who requested a vertical composition, predominantly blue, with at least one horse. The resulting canvas includes a self-portrait similar to the one in Voyage of Discovery. M. F. Husain's hands are reaching out to a magnificent silver horse leaping through an archway, and a verse of Ghalib - the greatest Urdu poet and favorite of the Beekman Place sages - looms above the scene.' 

(A. Fareed, 'My Family with M.F. Husain, Memories of Childhood', Voyage of Discovery: M.F. Husain, By Appointment of: Marguerite & Kent S. Charugundla, Tamarind Art Gallery, LLC, New York, 2015, p. 129)