Durga

Icons from Hindu religious texts and mythology were a recurring theme in Maqbool Fida Husain’s paintings. The artist started painting Indian gods and goddesses, reconfiguring them with his unique visual vocabulary, as early as the 1950s, and has been both praised and criticized for these portrayals. This painting of a totemic female warrior in blue, riding a tiger, is likely inspired by traditional depictions of the Goddess Durga. In Hinduism, Durga, also known as Shakti or Devi, is the protector of all that is good and harmonious in the world. She is usually portrayed in painting and sculpture riding a lion, with her multiple arms holding different weapons. Durga was created by the Hindu triumvirate or trimurti consisting of the three gods, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, to slay the buffalo demon Mahisasura. In this example the tiger is presented centrally, carrying Durga on its back pouncing upon the vanquished demon.

The present lot is one of Husain’s early explorations of the subject matter from the 1960s, and underlines his virtuosic ability to synthesize classical Indian subject matter into a uniquely modern aesthetic. The flattened abstracted forms and color bear similarity to European Modernist works by Fauvist or Post-Impressionist artists. However, Husain’s influences were also far closer to home. His palette was strongly influenced by depictions of Indian mythology in classical painting and sculpture as well as by the styles of Mughal, Jain and Basholi miniature paintings. His use of a bright colors including oranges and yellows gives his subject a powerful emotive energy, highlighting the artist's interest in depicting women as protagonists in his work. Here, Husain's subject is both goddess and everywoman, combining the mythical and ordinary in the artist's characteristic style.