Lot Essay
First appearing as a trope in Maqbool Fida Husain’s paintings in 1980, the figure of Mother Teresa recurred repeatedly in his works in the later years of his career. She is faceless, with her corporeality implied by the sari and its modeling. Gradations of the night sky permeate her hollow form, while street children pull at her folds.
Husain selectively details his work; the children’s mouths give voice to their plaintive street cries. Absenting other facial descriptions in both the sainted Teresa and the urchins, Husain emphasises the emblematic status of both in the Indian imagination. The young indigents’ lack of self-sufficiency is powerfully expressed through their lack of feet and hands. Mother Teresa’s sari envelops one of the children, promising succour and hope.
The artist states “I have tried to capture in my paintings what her presence meant to the destitute and the dying, the light and hope she brought by mere inquiry, by putting her hand over a child abandoned in the street. I did not cry at this encounter. I returned with so much strength and sadness that it continues to ferment within." (Artist statement, Y. Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New York, 2001, p. 116)
See lot 25 for futher discussion on M.F. Husain’s preoccupation with Mother Teresa as the subjuct of his painting.
Husain selectively details his work; the children’s mouths give voice to their plaintive street cries. Absenting other facial descriptions in both the sainted Teresa and the urchins, Husain emphasises the emblematic status of both in the Indian imagination. The young indigents’ lack of self-sufficiency is powerfully expressed through their lack of feet and hands. Mother Teresa’s sari envelops one of the children, promising succour and hope.
The artist states “I have tried to capture in my paintings what her presence meant to the destitute and the dying, the light and hope she brought by mere inquiry, by putting her hand over a child abandoned in the street. I did not cry at this encounter. I returned with so much strength and sadness that it continues to ferment within." (Artist statement, Y. Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New York, 2001, p. 116)
See lot 25 for futher discussion on M.F. Husain’s preoccupation with Mother Teresa as the subjuct of his painting.