Iqbal – I

Maqbool Fida Husain was born in 1913 in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. A self-taught artist, he arrived in Mumbai in 1937 determined to become a painter. In 1948, he was invited by F N Souza to join the Group of Progressive Artists.

Husain began his career by painting billboards for feature films and designing furniture and toys to earn a living. However, when he began painting as an art form, he returned again and again to his roots and to themes that blended folk, tribal, and mythological art to create lively and vibrantly contemporary art forms. His rise as a public figure had as much to do with his style and presentation as with his themes. He represented icons of Indian culture through the ages, seeking to capture the quintessence of his subjects, such as Mother Teresa, and characters from epics such as the Mahabharata.

Husain's name has become almost synonymous with modern Indian art, as no artist has popularized Indian art, within the country or internationally, as Husain has done. His relentless search for his cultural roots and his fearless and open willingness to absorb diverse influences have made M. F. Husain one of the most recognizable figures in modern Indian art.

In a career that spanned seven decades, Husain also made feature films, such as Through the Eyes of a Painter in 1967, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and Gajagamini in 2000. The Government of India honored him. with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards, both prestigious civilian awards. Husain died in London in 2011.

BORN

17 September 1915 Pandharpur, Maharashtra

DIED

June 9, 2011 London, England

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

Self-taught Artist

SELECTED POSTHUMOUS EXHIBITIONS

2017 Yatra The Rooted Nomad, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2015 Paintings and drawings from a private collection, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2015 Selections of Abby Gray and Indian Modernism from the New York University Art Collection, Gray Art Gallery, New York University, New York

2014 Immutable Gaze Part I Masterpieces of Modern and Pre-Modern Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York

2014 Post-Picasso Contemporary Reactions, Picasso Museum of Barcelona, Barcelona

2013 Maqbool, Sovereign Fze, Dubai

2013 Ram Kumar and the Bombay Progressives Form and Figure Part II, Aicon Gallery, New York

2013 Pioneers of Modernism, Sovereign FZE, Dubai

2013 Ideas of the Sublime, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2013 The Discerning Eye Modern Masters, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2013 The Nude and the Nude The Body in Modern Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2012 Iconic Processions, Aicon Gallery, New York

Gallery Collection 2012, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2012 Indian Highway VI, organized in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London and the Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing

2012 Between 2 Lines, organized by Doha Bank and Blue Mosaic in association with Sothebys at Doha Bank Tower, Doha

2012 Contemporary A selection of modern and contemporary art, presented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai

2012 Through the Ages, South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism, Aicon Gallery, New York

2012 Crossings Time Unfolded, Part 2, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2012 Basilio Gallery, Bangladesh

2011-12 Presented by ICIA at The Arts Trust, Mumbai

2011-12 Institute of Contemporary Indian Art (ICIA), Mumbai

2011-12 The Body Unleashed, Rubin Museum of Art, New York

2011 A Tribute to MF Husain, Royal Academy of Arts, London

2011 The Lotus Path of Indian Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2011 Modern Masters, Aicon Gallery, New York

2011-12 Indian Highway, in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo at the MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome

2011 Manifestations VI, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 Progressive Starting States to the Present, Aicon Gallery, London

2011 Celebrating Husain, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 POP Progressives on Paper, Aicon Gallery, New York

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2010 M F Husain 2010 - The world is my canvas, organized by the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Qatar Foundation and as part of the Arab Capital of Culture 2010

2010 M.F. Husain's early masterworks from the 1950s to 1970s, sponsored by the Year of India, the Cogut Center for the Humanities and the David Winton Bell Gallery at the David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence

2006-07 Epic Paintings of India by M. F. Husain, Herwitz Collection of Contemporary Indian Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

2006 Early Masterpieces of the 1950s-70s, Asia House Gallery, London

2005 Print Exhibition, Collectors Paradise Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Husain (Exhibition of Graphic Prints in Honor of M S Subbalakshmi), Lakshana Museum of Fine Arts, Chennai

2004 And not only 88 Husain in oil, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai

2004 Husain Graphic 2004, Images and Frames, Mumbai

2003 88 Husains in Oils 003, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Husain Hieroglyph, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2003 88 Husains in oil paintings 003, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2003 Thief of Baghdad, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2003 88 Husains in oil paintings 003, Gallery 88, Calcutta

2003 Paris

2002 Husain Paintings and Screen Prints, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda. 

2002 M .F Husain, Limited Edition Reproduction and Graphics, Sakshi Gallery in association with Archer Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

2002 Madhuri as Saratchandras Chandramukhi The Eternal Sorceress of Devdas, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2000 Paintings, murals and drawings, Husain Ki Sarai Collection, New Delhi

1998 Maqbool Fida Husain The Lighthouse of Energy, The Window, Mumbai

1998 Husain Now, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

1996 From Sinhasan to Peacock Throne to 21st Century Chair M.F Husain and Jehangir Nagree Furniture Exhibition, organized by The Living Room at Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai

1996 Exhibition of Watercolors and Object-Based Works, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1996 Screening of the film Gaja Gamini, along with an exhibition of lithographs and site-specific works, New Delhi. 

1995 Maqbool Fida Husain, Art Today, New Delhi

1995 14 silkscreens on Madhuri Dixit, Surya Gallery, Hyderabad

1995 A visual script for an untitled film on Madhuri, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1994 Tapestry Exhibition, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1994 Oils on canvas, 31st anniversary exhibition, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1993 Let History Cut Across Me Without Me, organized by Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi. 

1993 Civilization, Violence and Pather Panchali, at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi. 

1992 Six days of live painting, Tata Centre, Calcutta

1991 Knight Watch, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1991 Shwetambari, Installation at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1991 Cover, Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), New Delhi

1990 Theater of the Absurd, Installations, New Delhi

1989 Calcutta 300, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

1988 Husain, Hunter Museum of Art, Tennessee, USA. 

1986 Images of the Raj, Sistas Art Gallery, Bangalore

1983 Story of a Brush, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1982 Street Culture, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1981 Street culture, Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1981 Les Otages - Mere Theresa, Galerie Jourdan, Montreal, Canada

1980 Mother and child, a tribute to Mother Teresa, Calcutta Art Gallery, Calcutta

1979 Husain in Malaysia, The Hilton, Kuala Lumpur

1978 Ragmala Paintings, Centaur Hotel, Mumbai

1978 Sufi Paintings, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1978 Portrait of an Umbrella, Artistic Heritage, New Delhi

1978 Retrospective, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1975 Maqbool Fida Husain, Sarla Art Centre, Chennai

1974 Commonwealth Art Centre, London, United Kingdom. 

1974 Moscow Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow

1974 Husain Paintings, Worcester Art Museum, USA

1973 Retrospective, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta. 

1973 Cardin Space, Paris

1972 Paintings 1971, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1971 Ashoka Hotel, New Delhi

1969 21 Years of Painting, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1968 Images of Kerala, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1968 Six days to create movements and moods in paintings, Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi

1967 New York, Poland and Czechoslovakia

1966 Bombay

1966 Hotel Oberoi, New Delhi

1965 Drawings The Arab Image, Chemould Gallery, Mumbai, Calcutta and New Delhi, Cintura Gallery, Baghdad and Kabul

1964 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi

1962 Ashoka Gallery, Calcutta

1962 Bombay and New Delhi

1961 Ashoka Gallery, Calcutta

1961 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1961 Palse Gallery, Rome

1961 Tokyo

1960 Palse Gallery, Rome

1960 Kunst Kabinet, Frankfurt

1956 Paleta Gallery, Zurich

1956 Mannes Gallery, Prague

1950 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 Continuum, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010-11 Figure Landscape, Part Two, Aicon Gallery, London

2010 Figure Landscape Part One, Aicon Gallery, New York

2010 Who has seen Gandhi? presented by Tangerine Art Space at Raj Bhavan, KynKyny Art Gallery and Tangerine Art Space, Bengaluru

2010 The Modernists, RL Fine Arts, New York

2010 The Progressives & Associates, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2010 From miniature to modern traditions in transition, Rob Dean Art, London in association with Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Symbols and metaphors, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2010 Masters of Maharashtra, collection of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi at Piramal Gallery, National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai

2009-10 Master Class, The Arts Trust, Mumbai

2009 Bharat Ratna Jewels of Modern Indian Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

2009 In Search of the Vernacular, Aicon Gallery, New York

2009 Indian Harvest, presented by Crimson- The Art Resouce, Bangalore at SG Private Banking, Singapore

2009 Long Gone & Living Now, Gallerie Mirchandani and Steinreucke, Mumbai

2009 Kalpana Figurative Art in India, presented by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Aicon Gallery, London, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) 

2009 Progressive to Altermodern 62 Years of Indian Modern Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London

2008-09 Signs Taken for Wonders Recent Art from India and Pakistan, Aicon Gallery, London

2008 Frame Figure Field 20th Century Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008 Multiple Modernities India, 1905-2005, Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA.

2008 Freedom 2008 - Sixty Years of Indian Independence, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2008 Stories, reflections and constructions, Galerie 88, Calcutta

2008 Seri-Prints Exhibition, Studio Vasant, New Delhi

2007 Bombay Gateway, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA

2007 From the Vault, Aicon Gallery, London and New York

2007 Epic Paintings of India by MF Husain, Peabody Museum Essex, Massachusetts, USA.

2006 Pictorial Glimpses, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai

Summer Exhibition 2006, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2006 M F Husain Early Masterpieces of the 1950s and 1970s, Asia House, London

2006 The Moderns Revisited, Grosvenor Vadehra, London

2006 Shadow Lines, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2006 Making of Divinity, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai

2005 Manifestations III, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Nehru Center, Mumbai and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2005 Contemporary Indian Artists Drishti Vision, Valentine Willie Fine Art (VWFA), Kuala Lumpur

2005 Evoking Rasa in Luminous Visions of Indian Art, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

2005 Ashta Nayak Eight Pioneers of Indian Art, Aicon Gallery, New York

2005 The Sacred Feminine, Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi

2005 Still life The inscrutable genre, artistic motif, New Delhi

2004 20-20 A Vision Looking Back Looking Forward, Apparao Galleries, Chennai

2004 Reflections, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, The Forum, New Delhi, Windsor Manor Hotel, Bangalore, Museum Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Jiva Life, Bodhi Art, Singapore

2004 Portrait of a Decade, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

2004 Manifestations II, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 Concept and Form, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2003 Anniversary Master Strokes, Art Musings, Mumbai

2003 Manifestations I, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at the World Trade Centre, Mumbai and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2002 Art Musings 2002, Art Musings, Mumbai

2002 Colors of India, organized by Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata in Mumbai

2001 Anniversary Return to Eden, Art Musings, Mumbai

2001 Modern Indian Art, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York

2000 Distillations, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta

2000 Timeless Vision Contemporary Art from the Herwitz Collection, Haggerty Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI

2000 New works, The Fine Art Resource, Berlin

1998 Reflections, Apollo Apparao Galleries, Mumbai

1998 The Window, Mumbai

1997 Indian Painters Living in France, Alliance Francaise, Pondicherry

1997 The Indian Beast, Apparao Galleries, Chennai

1997 Inaugural exhibition, Art Indus, New Delhi

1997 Tribute to Mother Teresa, Art Indus, New Delhi

1997 Keehn Collection Important Paintings of Post-Independence India, Bose Pacia, New York

1997 Colors of Independence, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1996 Contemporary Indian Paintings Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, Part II, Sothebys Auction, New York

1996 Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings One Hundred Years, Sotheby's Auction, London

1995 River of Art, Art Today, New Delhi

1995 Contemporary Indian Paintings Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, Part I, Sothebys Auction, New York

1995 Art India Now Important Contemporary Artists, Bose Pacia, New York

1995 Mithuna, 91C Jermyn Street, London

1994 Art Today, New Delhi

1994 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1993 Reflection and Images, Mumbai

1993 Wounds, Center International of Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

1991 National Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi

1991 Husain, Husain and Husain, Egypt

1991 Remembering Kali Pundole on her 28th birthday, Mumbai

1991 State of the Art, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai

1991 Nine Indian Contemporaries, Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), New Delhi

1988 Festival of India, Takoka Municipal Art Museum and Meugro Art Museum, Tokyo

1987 Indian Drawing Today, Mumbai

1986 Indian Art of Tomorrow, The Phillips Collections, Washington D.C.

1986 Contemporary Indian Art, Gray Art Gallery, New York

1985-86 Festival of India, Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art, New York University, New York

1985-86 Indian Art Today 4 Artists, Washington D.C, USA

1985-86 Contemporary Art in India, Worcester, USA

1985 100 Jahre Indische Malerei, Old Museum, Berlin

1985 Six Indian Painters, Tate Gallery, London

1982 Indische Kunst Heute, Kunsthalle Darmstadt

1982 Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Arts, London

1982 Six Indian painters, London

1982 Contemporary Indian Art, London

1982 Myth and reality of India, aspects of modern Indian art, Oxford, United Kingdom

1982 Modern Indian Paintings, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC

1982 Pundole Art Gallery, Bombay

1973 Chanakya Gallery, New Delhi

1972 A painter makes a film, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai

1970 Art Today II, Ashoka Gallery, Calcutta and Shridharni Gallery, New Delhi

1969 Art Today I, New Delhi

1968 Ahmedabad

1967 25 years of paintings seen in Bombay, Mumbai

1966 Commonwealth Art Exhibition, London

1966 Art Now in India, London and Brussels

1964 Indian Paintings Now, London

1962 Asoka Art Gallery, Calcutta

1961 Chemould Gallery, Mumbai

1958 Eight Painters, International Cultural Centre, New Delhi

1951 May Hall, France

1950 Calcutta Group - Progressive Art Group, joint exhibition, Calcutta

1950 Bombay Art Society Hall, Mumbai

1948-56 Group exhibitions with Progressive Art Group

1949 Bombay

SELECTED JOINT EXHIBITIONS

2011 Between 2 lines, with Owais Husain at the Indian Embassy, Muscat

2009 Spirit of India, with S H Raza at Kings Road Galleries, London

PARTICIPATIONS

2011 Ethos V Indian Art through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2011 Goddess, lion, peasant, priest Modern and contemporary Indian art, from the collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin at the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, Atlanta

2011 Manifestations V, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 Roots in the Air, Branches Below Modern and Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose

2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi

2011 Celebrations 2011, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Evolve 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 Art Dubai 2010, presented by Aicon Gallery, New York

2010 Manifestations IV, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Roots, 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai

2010 Celebration 2010, Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi

2009 Armory Show, New York presented by Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

2008-09 India Moderna, organized by the Institut Valencia dArt Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Valencia, Spain

2008, 09, 10 Indian Highway, a touring exhibition presented in collaboration with the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo at the Serpentine Gallery, London, Herning Museum of Contemporary Art (HEART), Herning, Denmark

2008-09 Peace Mandala, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2008 Moderns, Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan

2008 Harvest 2008, organized by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi

2007-08 From Everyday To The Imagined Modern Indian Art, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore and Art Museum, Seoul National University, Seoul

2001 Jubilant Gold 50 years of Artists Centre, Artists Centre, Mumbai

1987 Festival of India, Russia

1987 Couer Coups, Halle de Ille, Geneva

1985-86 Bharat Bhavan Biennale, Bhopal

1971 Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil

1959 Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil

1959 Tokyo Biennale, Japan

1955 National Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1955 Venice Biennale, Italy

1953 Venice Biennale, Italy

HONORS AND AWARD

2007 Raja Ravi Varma Award, Government of Kerala

2007 Honorary Doctorates, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi

2007 Honorary Doctorates, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi

2007 Honoris Causa Doctorates, University of Mysore

2004 Lalit Kala Ratna, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2003 Honorary Doctorates from Banaras Hindu University (citation needed), Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Calicut and University of Mysore

1997 Aditya Vikram Birla Kalashikkar Lifetime Achievement Award

1989 Padma Vibhushan, Government of India

1973 Padma Bhushan, Government of India

1968 National Award for Best Experimental Film Through the Eyes of a Painter, India

1967 He won the Golden Bear for his film Through the Eyes of a Painter, Berlin International Film Festival and acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York

1966 Padma Shri, Government of India

1959 International Biennial Prize, Tokyo

1955 Awarded Padmashree, Government of India

1955 First Prize at the National Art Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1947 Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

mf husain paintings, m f husain