THE HINDU
By Sunil Murthy
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| The many colours of M.F. Husain. Photo: Deepak Harichandan |
INDIA --- The recent auction in Mumbai — on January 17, of
M.F. Husain’s works by Pundole’s — was nothing less than extraordinary. It was the first of its kind devoted solely to works by the modernist Indian painter anywhere in the world. His love for the country seems to have been genuine, and it is unfortunate that he is now often remembered for the rather crude depictions he made of Hindu goddesses in the 1970s that, when brought to public attention, got him into big trouble and finally exile. It would be absurd to think that he had any malicious intentions of hurting Hindu sentiments. Instead, Husain fled and, in the safety and great luxury of a Muslim country, constantly carped about his motherland's neglect and treatment towards him. [
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Almost the entire output of his later career was figurative in nature. In choosing his subjects, he played to the gallery, drawing upon icons of popular culture: Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan, and other stars and, of course, Mother Teresa, who had also become equally popular with the Indian masses. Beginning with film posters, he had graduated to painting actors. Even when he tackles a ‘serious’ personality like Teresa, the result is disappointing. He paints her like a Madonna wearing a shroud, a replica in paint of Michelangelo’s marble Pieta and numerous other Renaissance depictions. Teresa was the brand; hence she is the central and dominant figure in the composition, with the cliché of a peace dove flying in the corner. There is not much of the suffering and destitute whom she tended.
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