Maqbool Fida Husain

‘[Husain] is convinced that [the] themes of fate and power one finds in the Mahabharata and Ramayana are universally true of the modern world and can be reenacted on the modern Indian canvas.’ (D. Herwitz, Husain, Tata Steel, Bombay, 1988, p. 22)

Animal imagery and metaphors were important to Maqbool Fida Husain throughout his career. Horses, bulls, roosters, elephants and tigers fill the canvases of the artist, loaded with powerful symbolism. In the current lot, Husain depicts the monkey in conjunction with his most enduring subject: woman. The representation of monkey with ‘belle’ recalls the story of Prince Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, his wife, Sita and Hanuman, King of the Monkeys, in the Ramayana. In this epic, Ravana, King of the Demons, kidnapped Sita and flew her away to his kingdom in Lanka. Hanuman, along with his monkey army, jumped to the island to find Sita and fight Ravana. Soon after, Rama brought Sita home at last.

In the mythological world, Hanuman is a symbol of loyalty and faith, and for Husain, woman was the apogee of strength: ‘Man, in Husain’s view, is dynamic only in heroism. He is diminished by confusion and broken by unbelief, and these are unheroic and unbelieving times. Spiritually, woman is more enduring. Pain comes naturally to her, as do compassion and a sense of the birth and death of things. In Husain’s work, woman has the gift of eagerness […] and an inward attentiveness, as if she were listening to the life coursing within her.' (R. Bartholomew and S. Kapur, Husain, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1971, p. 46)

The dynamic combination of woman and monkey is executed with Husain’s signature broad and confident strokes. Against split color fields of white and blue, the abstracted forms merge along the central line, becoming inseparable and part of the same story. The attributes of both monkey and belle coalesce to create a timeless image of resilience. This canvas adheres with Husain’s attitude to the Hindu epics, enduring stories that cohere with every generation throughout the ages.

‘Husain’s concept is intensely poetic: with a stroke of genius, the entire mythic world which has enriched the minds of the common people is brought vividly alive. Past and present, myth and reality are shown to exist simultaneously in the Indian imagination.’ (E. Alkazi, M.F. Husain: The Modern Artist and Tradition, Art Heritage, New Delhi, 1978, p. 17)