Important Notice

Husain’s fascination with the horse can be traced to his childhood in Indore, where he accompanied his grandfather to a farrier who tended to the tonga horses of the Maharaja’s cavalry. His later encounters with the Duldul horse in Muharram processions, Chinese painting and sculpture, and the work of Franz Marc and Marino Marini expanded this vocabulary. Dalmia describes how Husain’s horse “swept across continents” yet remained singularly his... Husain’s fascination with the horse can be traced to his childhood in Indore, where he accompanied his grandfather to a farrier who tended to the tonga horses of the Maharaja’s cavalry. His later encounters with the Duldul horse in Muharram processions, Chinese painting and sculpture, and the work of Franz Marc and Marino Marini expanded this vocabulary. Dalmia describes how Husain’s horse “swept across continents” yet remained singularly his own. (Yashodhara Dalmia, “A Metaphor for Modernity ‒ Maqbool Fida Husain”, The Making of Modern Indian Art, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 107‒108) In the present lot, he brings the horse into relation with the female figure, placing her angular form alongside its forward movement. Bold black contours define both figures, while vivid red, yellow, orange and green intensify the composition, giving the scene the force characteristic of Husain’s treatment of the horse.

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