M F Hussain (1915-2011) Watercolour on handmade paper from the Kerala Series, image 83.8 x 60.9cm.
"If Kashmir is all about men and mountains" the Kerala "is all about women and nature" - Maqbool Fida Husain. After visiting Kerala in 2000, Husain began his work on a series of paintings where he tried to recapture the unique features the social life and traditions of the state.
Maqbool Fida Husain, known as M.F. Husain (1915-2011), was one of India’s most eminent artists. Born in Pandharpur, his early years were spent in Indore. Husain began his career as a painter of cinema hoardings after attending art school in Bombay (now Mumbai). Using freehand drawing and vibrant colour, he depicted Indian subject matter in the style of contemporary European art movements, particularly Cubism.
He was one of the most celebrated and internationally recognised Indian artists of the 20th century and one of the founding members of Bombay Progressive Artists' Group whose modern technique was inspired by the "new" India after the partition of 1947. His narrative paintings, executed in a modified Cubist style, can be caustic and funny as well as serious and sombre. His themes—sometimes treated in series—include topics as diverse as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the British Raj, and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. In September 2020, his painting titled “Voices”, auctioned for a record $2.5 million.  We feel very lucky to have found this unsold after a provincial sale where Husain may have been less recognisable than he is in India.