MF Husain's monumental 20-foot 1958 oil on canvas, Voices, set to go up for auction online

Mumbai: For its upcoming online auction, AstaGuru will shine a spotlight on MF Husain’s endearing artistic legacy.

Titled Husain, the dedicated online auction will feature a catalogue that encompasses the incredible journey of the Padma Vibhushan award-winning artist. 

Deemed as one of the most prominent and decorated Indian creators, Maqbool Fida Husain’s body of work has become one of the most important chapters in the history of modern Indian art.

Apart from his juggernaut landmark paintings such as Voices and Karbala to name a couple; the auction will also include works that depict his deftness across mediums such as tapestry and watercolours.

Rakshanda Hussain, Specialist, AstaGuru commented, “MF Husain played a crucial role in introducing Indian art to a wider audience both within India and internationally by being at the forefront of the modernism movement. 

"He developed a style which is instantaneously recognisable, and one which not only combined his influences of European art movements such as Cubism and Expressionism but also favoured his unrelenting quest to pay homage to his Indian roots. 

"At AstaGuru, we have specially curated a collection of works by Husain that span his entire journey as an artist.”

Husain worked extensively throughout his life and developed various series of works including topics as diverse as Mohandas K Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the British Raj and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. 

Since his formative years, Husain integrated many indigenous traditions in his art, this trait to assimilate the symbolic use of colour and spatial divisions of miniature painting, breaking down and incorporating the distortions from folk heritage aided him to create paintings that are relatable by the masses. 

This auction will include works spanning all his beloved topics and motifs that have become synonymous with modern Indian art.

Leading this auction is a monumental work titled Voices. Painted in 1958, this superlative composition was created during an extremely significant phase in the artist’s career. 

By the late 1950s, Husain had become an artist of international repute and had amassed global exposure, with regard to his art practice and philosophy. 

The presented creation is indeed seminal, owing to the fact that MF Husain deviates from his human, highly symbolic workstyle. In order to celebrate the unseen syntax, of a painter’s world. 

He dissects the gargantuan panel, spanning 20 feet, to capture the maelstrom of visuals, which erupt from the sub-conscious.

Aptly titled Voices, the painting enmeshes and integrates the intangible forces that most certainly echo, hereby animating all that is tangible. 

It was part of a retrospective in 2005 at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai and now will be offered for the first time ever at auction. 

The painting will be on display at AstaGuru’s Kala Ghoda gallery in Mumbai and will be auctioned online on 29 - 30 August 2020. 

AstaGuru will unveil the entire auction catalogue on the website along with estimates soon.