MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN (1915-2011)

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.