Live Auction 2460South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art
MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (1915-2011)
Lot 70 PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTOR, MASSACHUSETTS

MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (1915-2011)

Untitled (Shikara)

Closed13 September 2011

Price Realised

USD 176,500

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MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (1915-2011)
Untitled (Shikara)
signed in Hindi and Urdu (lower right)
oil on canvas
38 x 50 in. (96.5 x 127 cm.)

Dhoomi Mal Gallery, New Delhi
Acquired from the above by the previous owner in 1962
Sotheby's London, 8 October 1996, lot 53
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Specialist note

Like the Venetian gondolas, the shikara boats of the Dal Lake serve as cultural symbols of the natural beauty and tranquility of Kashmir. The bearded figure depicted within the painting is likely a self-portrait of Husain. This painting is a tour de force in composition as distilled into Cubist brushstrokes and impasto. Note how the diagonal line of the boatpole bifurcates the canvas while the foreshortening of background and foreground creates a balance that radiates the both the dynamism of the artist amidst the calm of his environment.