M.F.Hussain

M.F.Hussain (...contd)

It was in 1951 that Hussain traveled to China for the first time and the following year he had his first solo exhibition in Zurich. The next few years were vital in Hussain's painting career. His paintings were widely exhibited all over the world, especially in Europe and USA, making him a name to reckon with contemporary painting. In 1966 Husain was awarded the Padmashree by the Government of India. In the following year he made his first film, Through the Eyes of a Painter . It was shown at the Berlin Festival and won a Golden Bear. Some of his best-known works are called the Sufi paintings, which were first exhibited at the Pundole Gallery in 1978.

Hussain is famous not only for his paintings but also for his experiments and conducts which are often inscrutable to the general public. Mention might be made of his Shwetambari exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery that consisted of two halls shrouded in white cloth, whorls of which also shared the floor with torn newspapers. Equally interesting was his public performance at the Tata Center in Calcutta. For several days a crowd watched as Hussain painted pictures of six goddesses – only to destroy the paintings by overpainting with white on the last day of the exhibition.

Hussain was nominated to the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha in 1987; and during his six year term he produced the Sansad Portfolio . Hussain has made a widely known and controversial series of paintings inspired by the Indian actress Madhuri Dixit. He has also made two experimental films.