MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (B. 1915)

The present work relates to the subject of bathers popular among European Modernists. However, in making this subject his own, Husain's greater emphasis is on classical Indian sculpture. Discussing the classical stance of tribhanga (three bends) in temple sculpture, Husain notes that "in the East the human form is an entirely different structure ... the way a woman walks in the village there are three breaks ... from the feet, the hips and the shoulder ... they move in rhythm, the walk of a European is erect and archaic." (P. Nandy, The Illustrated Weekly of India, December 4 - 10, 1983)