Lot Essay
"My horses like lightning, cut across many horizons. Seldom their hooves are shown. They hop around the spaces. From the battlefield of 'Karbala' to Bankura terra cota, from the Chinese Tse pei Hung [Xu Beihong] horse to St. Marco horse, from ornate armoured 'Duldul' to challenging white of 'Ashwamedh'...the cavalcade of my horses is multidimensional." (Husain, Mumbai, 1987, p. 83)
The juxtaposition of human and animal figures is a prevalent theme in the oeuvre of Maqbool Fida Husain. The artist seems particularly interested in the pairing of men or women and horses, typically in a dynamic and entwined composition. Husain's horses are proud, powerful and valiant, often matching or even overpowering the human figures they are opposing.
The horse in particular became a central part of the artist's oeuvre since his first representation of the animal in the early 1950s. Husain depicts them as strong creatures, usually galloping, with reared heads and tremendous movement. His inspiration to paint horses was derived from a combination of sources, notably a trip to China where he was exposed toTang pottery horses and the monochromatic paintings of galloping horses by Xu Beihong, and a trip to Italy where he discovered the equestrian sculptures of the Italian artist Marino Marini (1901-1980). However, what is liable to have been more influential is an event he witnessed for the first time as a fifteen year old boy: once a year during Muharram when the religious mourned the death of Imam Husain, the Prophet's son, they would carry tazias or effigies of Imam Husain's faithful horse in a procession through the streets. "[...] the earliest icon that he had a part in creating was the apocalyptic horse of the tazias. He was to remain loyal to that icon; it never strayed far from his imagination in his subsequent paintings." (R. Bartholomew and S.S. Kapur, Husain, New York, 1972, p. 32)
Husain's horses are not plastic forms treated to stylistic variations; rather, they are sensuous creatures that have become his personal symbols. In this epic painting, the three white and one black horses are dramatically positioned around a female figure, as if in deference to her beauty. The stormy backdrop, which also highlights the figure of the woman, gives the work a theatricality that may find inspiration in Husain's long association with cinema and cinema billboards. According to Ebrahim Alkazi, horses are usually recognized as symbols of the sun and knowledge. They are associated with life giving and sustaining forces. Husain's horses have become "a vehicle for multiple utterances - aggression, power and protection." (R. Shahani, Let History Cut Across Me Without Me, New Delhi, 1993, p. 8)
The juxtaposition of human and animal figures is a prevalent theme in the oeuvre of Maqbool Fida Husain. The artist seems particularly interested in the pairing of men or women and horses, typically in a dynamic and entwined composition. Husain's horses are proud, powerful and valiant, often matching or even overpowering the human figures they are opposing.
The horse in particular became a central part of the artist's oeuvre since his first representation of the animal in the early 1950s. Husain depicts them as strong creatures, usually galloping, with reared heads and tremendous movement. His inspiration to paint horses was derived from a combination of sources, notably a trip to China where he was exposed toTang pottery horses and the monochromatic paintings of galloping horses by Xu Beihong, and a trip to Italy where he discovered the equestrian sculptures of the Italian artist Marino Marini (1901-1980). However, what is liable to have been more influential is an event he witnessed for the first time as a fifteen year old boy: once a year during Muharram when the religious mourned the death of Imam Husain, the Prophet's son, they would carry tazias or effigies of Imam Husain's faithful horse in a procession through the streets. "[...] the earliest icon that he had a part in creating was the apocalyptic horse of the tazias. He was to remain loyal to that icon; it never strayed far from his imagination in his subsequent paintings." (R. Bartholomew and S.S. Kapur, Husain, New York, 1972, p. 32)
Husain's horses are not plastic forms treated to stylistic variations; rather, they are sensuous creatures that have become his personal symbols. In this epic painting, the three white and one black horses are dramatically positioned around a female figure, as if in deference to her beauty. The stormy backdrop, which also highlights the figure of the woman, gives the work a theatricality that may find inspiration in Husain's long association with cinema and cinema billboards. According to Ebrahim Alkazi, horses are usually recognized as symbols of the sun and knowledge. They are associated with life giving and sustaining forces. Husain's horses have become "a vehicle for multiple utterances - aggression, power and protection." (R. Shahani, Let History Cut Across Me Without Me, New Delhi, 1993, p. 8)