A famous Indian bollywood
lyricist Mr. Javed Akhtar had
once said : “He has passed the
age of passing away”. What a perfect
description of a man who is an Internationally renowned Indian artist
M.F.Husain.
TMOD , FTM and DG … Good Evening.
Known to all as “MF” and we call him “Chacha” as
his nick name since he is from the same community and I am privileged to
personally know him.
He was one of India 's most
renowned artist and his paintings fetched millions of dollars at international
auctions. But he did not have a studio. He used to walk barefoot most of the
time and when asked by a TV channel he said "Wherever you go, the first thing the
world see is your footwear, then they will decide on your status so now you recognize
me as I am."
MF Husain was born in 1915 in
Western Maharashtra. Hussain was raised by his grandfather, who fixed lanterns
for a living. His father remarried after his mother passed away before Hussain
was two years old.
As a child, painting was one of
Hussain’s hobbies, soccer being the main other. He never had much interest in
formal schooling or acquiring a degree.
"This brush in my hand - if
nothing happens, I will whitewash the wall of the people - but I will never
leave this," Hussain recalled telling his father.
When he was seventeen, Hussain
moved to Bombay . He slept on pavements while he searched for work. His love
for the movies landed him a job as a painter of cinema hoardings.
In the 1940s, when Hussain made
his first splashes as an artist, the art scene in Bombay was quite small.
Hussain came from a humble background, a really working class. What
distinguished him right away was that he brought the subject of working class
and a theme of ordinary life.
In 1971, he was a special invitee
with Pablo Picasso to the Sao Paulo Biennial which is where he was
Dubbed as “ Picasso of India” by
Forbes Magazine.
His focus on distinctly Indian
themes brought Indian art to eminence at the international level as he began
appearing in exhibits and auction houses.
The other fascination of his art
was the female form. And in his search for the perfect form, he watched a movie
featuring Madhuri Dixit, the Indian actress and Hussein's friend, sixty
seven times. Each time in a theatre.
I remember the first meeting of mine with MF
Husain somewhere in January 1986 in Baroda … We were playing volleyball finals
at a club level. He signed the T-shirts of all the volley ball team players who
were there in a completion Final and I was one of them. Many of us including me
have not washed that T-shirt after the game because we do not want his
signature to be washed out.
Later on after many years I met him in Dubai. Since
I am into Financial Planning industry I was priviledged to have him as my
client. We also insured all of his luxurious cars in Dubai.
I remember a historic day of my life where I took a client of mine at his art gallery in
Emirates Hill. This client was interested to buy his paintings. It was a room
which he has converted into art gallery which was full of paintings worth
Thousands of Dollars. MF Husain showed us all of his painting which were on
sale and the paintings which were priceless even for him.
He showed us one of his best painting which during
his struggling days he wanted to sell at an amount of IRs 50/- but no one
bought it. Now today in an international Market it is fetching more than USD
250000/- and it is NOT for sale.
He always believed that Indian
art had not been given its due recognition. So he tried to push the boundaries,
not only in his style and subject matter, but also in how exhibitions were
presented.
At times he worked 18 hour days and
till his last days he used to devote 4 hours to his ART.
Hussain constantly drew for
newspapers and for his favourite restaurants around India where he dined.
"If an inspiration came to him while having a cup of coffee, he would call
for a canvas and brush - or even chalk and blackboard”. Numerous
small cafes around India have precious sketches and paintings of his
hanging on their walls.
In 1996 due to a
communal hate campaign, physical threats, acts of vandalism, and impending
arrest MF Husain was forced into exile. He was distraught, deeply unhappy, and
felt abandoned by the India he loved. Finally in 2006, MFHussain moved to Dubai in
self-exile. He spent his final years shuttling between Dubai and London .
In 2010, he has accepted citizenship of Qatar.
Husain
Saheb was very fond of good food. In those days when he was facing issues with
the Fundamentalist groups, special
protection force was provided to him for his security with guns. He told the
security guards to have lunch with him since they also didn't had their
lunch... Though Special Air-conditioned rooms were available in the hotel,
Husain Saheb sat in the common serving room of the hotel with ordinary
people... Such was the humbleness and greatness of that person that he had food
with the security guards in the common serving room of the hotel.
His knowledge knew no
bounds.. Though he was not highly educated his command over English
and Urdu language was tremendous.
Husain
Saheb was not only a great painter but also won the Golden Bear award for his
documentary film THROUGH THE EYES OF THE PAINTER.
He used to write Urdu and
English poetry...Such was the intellectual ability, creativity and
originality in his work that he can be rightfully called the Genius Of His
Times.
Genius
is someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity or
originality which can be truly said of Late Maqbool Fida Husain Saheb.
Not
only was he a genius but exceptionally a good human being which the world has
lost.
Maqbool Fida Hussain died in
self-exile in London on June 9 at the age of 95, leaving behind close to 40,000
paintings, an open debate about the state of India 's democracy, and tremendous
respect for Indian art on the international stage. The marks of his bare feet
and long brush remain across India - and museums around the globe
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