MF Husain was India's most secular artist: Nepal curator

Kathmandu: Nepali curator Sangeeta Thapa says M.F. Husain was India's "most secular artist" even though Hindu fundamentalists had managed to create a "fear psychosis" about his paintings.

"He was the most secular artist in India. If he had not been, he would not have used repeated Hindu and Christian motifs in his paintings. Artists can dream of whatever they want to. It was a shame that he was hounded out," said Thapa, who owns the Siddhartha Art Gallery, one of the best-known galleries in Nepal.

Thapa first met Husain in the mid-1990s when she was living in Chennai. She remembers attending a dinner thrown by N. Ram, editor of The Hindu daily, where she was seated between "two giants" - Husain and film director Mani Ratnam.

At another dinner, Husain gallantly presented her with an impromptu painting - an elephant sketched on a linen napkin with a black felt pen.

"At that time, Husain's silk screen paintings cost about Rs.5,000," she says nostalgically. "But I wanted to buy an oil of his at that time and passed up the chance."

Much later, when she bought the silk screen paintings, the price had gone up considerably. Now the painting of Mother Teresa and another one with Krishna and Shiva have pride of place in her beautiful Kathmandu residence.

Thapa later met Husain at an exhibition of South Asian paintings in Lahore's Alhamra Gallery. She remembers how struck she was by his "usual elegance" - the flowing white beard, black kurta and his "trademark signature" - the bare feet.

"It's one thing to be barefoot in India," she says with a laugh. "But it was cold in Lahore and I wondered how he did it."

In two days, the maestro had covered a wall of the gallery with his horses, filling her and other onlookers with awe.

"It was incredible energy and incredible lines," she says.

When Hindu groups began attacking Husain and accusing him of denigrating the Hindu pantheon, Thapa says there was a "fear psychosis" about his paintings.

When she bought the silk screen paintings and an edition of 12 black and gold sketches of his Benaras drawings, she remembers how nervous the seller was, filling her with the same nameless apprehension.

He asked her not to display the paintings, and she says she wrapped them up carefully and brought them to Nepal almost surreptitiously.

"A friend of mine put up some of Husain's paintings at Asia House in London and Hindu fundamentalists exported their terror even there and had them slashed. It sent shock waves in India," she said.

When Thapa heard of Husain's death, her first reaction was that of sorrow.

But now, she is hoping that the courts of India will "declare null and void the thousands of cases against him".

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)




 

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

West Bengal to recognise 10,000 madrasas

The West Bengal government will give recognition to around 10,000 madrasas, the Islamic seminaris, under the state madrasa education board, enabling them to seek central funds for upgradation, Chief Minister Mamata   »

'Mamata' on Urdu, Madrasa Aliah

Jamia Mohammadia: Islamic and Modern studies rule here with equal power

  Most Read

Anti Corruption crusade or resurgence of Hindutva?

I have no issues with Ramdev or his cause. He's a successful yoga guru, which is why he counts millions amongst his flock. He also claims to have found a cure for incurables like AIDS  »

Bihar Deputy CM in trouble over police firing

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's role should be probed in an incident of police firing in Araria district, in which five people were killed, a civil society group Friday said. The group also demanded an immediate dismissal of the superintendent of police (SP) and sub-divisional   »

  News Pick

News at fingertips - for the blind

They say reading is the basic tool in the living of a good life. In Maharashtra, some 24,000 blind people are being initiated into such a life, courtesy Sparshdnyan, a fortnightly newspaper that brings happenings from around the world to them.   »

Agra's war on plastic: One step forward, two steps back?

It was one of the most successful eco-campaigns in the Taj city, and even earned rare praise from the Uttar Pradesh government, but Agra's war on plastic bags has suffered a major setback with the transfer of a key   »

Global oil use to grow by 1.7 mn barrels per day

The total oil consumption across the world will grow by 1.7 million barrels per day in 2011, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. The agency also predicted in a review released Tuesday that the global oil consumption in   »

On history track: Punjab Mail chugs into 100th year

Once the preferred service for British officials disembarking at Mumbai and travelling up-country, the Punjab Mail entered its 100th year this month. It is the first train to achieve this distinction on Indian Railways' broad gauge network   »

Transparency revolution in India, but not everyone's ready: Antony

India is passing through a transparency revolution, but the four pillars of democracy are not yet ready for the transition, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Wednesday in  »

Picture of the Day

A shattered photograph of the artist in a vandalised exhibition in New Delhi in August, 2008. The artist and his paintings have been a target of a Hindutva hate campaign. Some groups alleged that his work hurt religious sensitivities.

(Photo: V.V. Krishnan/ The Hindu)