Page 18 - M F Husain The Eternal Master
P. 18

Left to right: Ram Kumar, M F Husain, Tyeb & Sakina Mehta, 1980s







                                                                                                                                                                            in the narrative of Indian Modernism. It was during this
                                                                                                                                                                            pivotal  year that Husain  made  a courageous  decision  to
                                                                                                                                                                            forgo his secure job at Fantasy  Furniture store. With a
                                                                                                                                                                            growing family and no assured income, this move was a leap

                                                                                                                                                                            of faith grounded in the belief that he was destined for a      Husain with India’s former President APJ Abdul Kalam
                                                                                                                                                                            different path. Husain intuitively understood that embracing
                                                                                                                                                                            another career in furniture design would end his dreams of
                                                                                                                                                                            becoming a celebrated artist. This move was followed by his

                                                                                                                                                                            submission of three works at the 1947 Bombay Art Society        transformed into an informal salon for budding local artists.
                                                                                                                                                                            (BAS) exhibition, where one of his paintings titled ‘Sunehra    Rudy Von Leyden, who arrived in Bombay around the same
                                                                                                                                                                            Sansar’ won an award. This crucial time for Husain was, in      time under similar circumstances, played a critical role as
                                                                                                                                                                            fact, serendipitous for Indian Modernism.                       the art critic for an iconic daily newspaper. His relentless
                                                                                                                                                                                  The stage was set for a remarkable fusion of Indian       dedication to discovering and promoting  Indian artists
                                                                                                                                                                            talent and European mentorship. Leading the BAS was             during the 1940s and 1950s was nothing short of monumental.

                                                                                                                                                                            Walter Langhammer, an Austrian teacher and cartoonist                Amid this vibrant landscape of artistic evolution stood
                                                                                                                                                                            who, along with his wife, had escaped from the horrors of       Francis Newton Souza, an Indian whose audacious vision
                                                                                                                                                                            Nazi persecution in India. Initially appointed as the Art       would reshape the contours of modern Indian art through
                              Husain in his element                                                                                                                         Director of The Times of India, Langhammer’s home quickly       founding the revolutionary Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG)



         16                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 17
   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23