MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (1915-2011)

The horse became a central part of Husain's oeuvre in 1951 when he first represented the animal on canvas. Husain's horses are sensuous creatures that have become personal symbols. They are nearly always depicted as strong creatures, usually galloping, with reared heads and tremendous movement. Their strong heads, delicate feet and dilated nostrils are expressed in blocks of color propelled by strokes of the brush or sweeps of the palette knife. "Husain's horses are subterranean creatures. Their nature is not intellectualized: it is rendered as sensation or as abstract movement, with a capacity to stir up vague premonitions and passions; in a mixture of ritualistic fear and exultant anguish." (R. Bartholomew and S. Kapur, Husain, New York, p. 43)