He is considered to be one of India’s greatest artists. The Picasso of India or so people say. Many believe that what India is today in the global art scene is largely due to this one man for whose works people have never thought twice before paying a million. M.F Hussain. What a life it had been! From joining the Progressive Artists to being awarded time and again for his skill, from trying his hand in cinema to mastering every stroke on the canvas, Maqbool Fida Hussain, the artist who celebrated a country which in turn, failed largely to see what he saw. Hussain’s paintings have often been the reason for widespread controversy all over the country as he drew Gods and Goddesses of Hindu mythology in the nude thereby hurting the sentiments of many. But isn’t art really beyond all this?
What is art without its power of expression?
Who is an artist if not someone who could let his paint cry havoc and bring peace as he wished it to?
‘They scream! They shout! They say they are offended! My nude body hurts their sentiments. For after all I am their God you see – The Goddess of Knowledge. As you paint another line stroking my cold body, their blood boils. How could you? They will ask when they confront you soon, pulling you by the collar. Yes, you are an artist. And yes! Through your art you may express what you see, what you feel. But, will they understand? Open, they say they are. And accepting they say is their religion, but will they see the purity you saw as you chose to show the bare body bereft of the man-made garment? Will they see that art is a journey, driven by a passion so profound that often, the artist goes into a trance as he takes this journey, breaking every norm of society that comes its way? Will they? You sin they say as you hold that brush between your fingers, but is it not really held within the heart of every artist as he sets off to show the world what he feels. Alas, I warn you but you care not! Paint ahead then, as you please! Draw the peacock; shape my body well, for there is purity in nudity. I see what you see. They will someday too. For, the question is a simple one. What is erotic? The creation or the eye that sees the creation? It is in the coming to terms with the answer which would be a tad bit difficult.’
