Culture of the Streets

Details

MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (B. 1915)
Culture of the Streets
Portfolio includes introduction by Chester E. Herwitz and thirty-two Kodak C-prints, in a custom made leather portfolio
signed and numbered '3 Husain' (lower left of the frontispiece)
10 7/8 x 13 7/8 in. (27.6 x 35.2 cm.) or 13 7/8 x 10 7/8 in. (35.2 x 27.6 cm.) each
Executed circa 1980s; number three from a limited edition of forty- five
Set of thirty-two (32)

Literature

D. Herwitz, Husain: Drawing, Painting, Water Colour, Graphic, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography, Tapestry, Bombay, 1988, pp. 159 - 165, 168 (eight photographs illustrated)
Six Indian Painters, Exhibition Catalogue, The Tate Gallery, London, 1982, pp. 13, 31, 33 (twelve photographs illustrated)

Exhibited

London, The Tate Gallery, Six Indian Painters, April - May 1982

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

MF Husain was a master of all mediums including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and filmmaking. Early in his career, the artist supported himself by painting billboards of Indian cinema which would later inform his iconography and style. By the 1980s, these billboards had become a direct subject for Husain. Armed with a 35 mm SLR camera, Husain roamed the streets of Madras to capture the surplus of images from the streets of India. The result was a portfolio of thirty-two photographs and unique visions of modern Indian life. Husain's juxtaposition of the large scale cinema billboards and the pedestrian life beneath highlights the stark contrast between the rich and glamorous world of cinema and the poverty-stricken urban landscape of the under-classes. His photographs capture the complex beauty of a culture steeped in tradition yet struggling to find a modern identity.

More from South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art

View All