* 'M F Husain: Horses of the Sun' highlights the legendary Indian painter's 100 works, archival images, biography, writings, and essays.
The 'M F Husain: Horses of the Sun' book, now available at Qatar Museums (QM) gift shops and online, highlights the legendary Indian artist’s 100 works, archival images, biography, writings, and essays. Published by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar Foundation (QF) and QM, the publication “also includes insightful essays by Ranjit Hoskote, Bruce Lawrence and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, celebrating the artist’s life and legacy.”
According to the publishers, the book documented the Maqbool Fida Husain exhibition, which had the same name, at Mathaf, in 2019, featuring about 100 artworks, including paintings, drawings, textile works, films and other pieces drawn from QF and QM collections, as well as from private collections from the Gulf region and other regions globally.
The opening of the exhibition in March 2019 was attended by QF Chairperson Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, marking the 2019 Qatar–India Year of Culture.
‘M F Husain: Horses of the Sun’ exhibition, curated by acclaimed Mumbai-based poet, art critic, and cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote, honours the work of “a renowned artist and contributor to modern Indian culture and the history of art in the 20th Century”, according to QM.
The artist’s creative works across more than six decades, bringing and examining three ideas at the heart of Husain’s body of work, were also showcased at the exhibition. According to the curator, M F Husain was “a foundational figure in the history of Indian modernism, as a member of the vanguard formation known as the Progressive Artists Group.”
He noted that the artist’s works were inspired by two World Wars, the Cold War, Algeria and Vietnam, South Asia’s conflicts, and the West Asian wars.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, along with QF Vice-Chairperson and CEO HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, members of Husain’s family, other dignitaries, and representatives of local and international art institutions, also attended a celebration unveiling the Seeroo fi al Ardh – the final work of the artist – at Education City in December 2019.
The most unusual artwork of the artist forms part of his extensive project on Arab civilisation and was designed to be both dynamic and experiential. A QF statement noted that the installation was commissioned by Her Highness Sheikha Moza, in addition to a series of paintings that reflect the 99 names of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Husain, who got Qatari citizenship in 2010, passed away before the Seeroo fi al Ardh could be finished. It was later completed by QF – housed within a permanent building close to Al Shaqab Equestrian Centre at Education City.
The opening of the exhibition in March 2019 was attended by QF Chairperson Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, marking the 2019 Qatar–India Year of Culture.
‘M F Husain: Horses of the Sun’ exhibition, curated by acclaimed Mumbai-based poet, art critic, and cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote, honours the work of “a renowned artist and contributor to modern Indian culture and the history of art in the 20th Century”, according to QM.
The artist’s creative works across more than six decades, bringing and examining three ideas at the heart of Husain’s body of work, were also showcased at the exhibition. According to the curator, M F Husain was “a foundational figure in the history of Indian modernism, as a member of the vanguard formation known as the Progressive Artists Group.”
He noted that the artist’s works were inspired by two World Wars, the Cold War, Algeria and Vietnam, South Asia’s conflicts, and the West Asian wars.
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, along with QF Vice-Chairperson and CEO HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, members of Husain’s family, other dignitaries, and representatives of local and international art institutions, also attended a celebration unveiling the Seeroo fi al Ardh – the final work of the artist – at Education City in December 2019.
The most unusual artwork of the artist forms part of his extensive project on Arab civilisation and was designed to be both dynamic and experiential. A QF statement noted that the installation was commissioned by Her Highness Sheikha Moza, in addition to a series of paintings that reflect the 99 names of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Husain, who got Qatari citizenship in 2010, passed away before the Seeroo fi al Ardh could be finished. It was later completed by QF – housed within a permanent building close to Al Shaqab Equestrian Centre at Education City.
