London, June 09: Celebrated Indian artist M F Husain, who earned both fame and wrath for his paintings, died here today after being unwell for over a month. He was 95.
Popularly known as MF and regarded as “Picasso of India”, the artist breathed his last at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London at 2.30 a.m. (local time).
A recipient of Padma Vibhushan in 1991, Husain had been keeping “indifferent health” for the last one-and-a-half month They said that funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised, family sources told PTI.
Born in Pandharpur in Maharashtra on September 17, 1915, Husain courted controversy over his paintings of Hindu goddesses. His paintings on goddesses Durga and Saraswati invited the wrath of Hindu groups which attacked his house in 1998 and vandalised his art works.
In February 2006, Husain was charged with hurting sentiments of people because of his nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses. In the wake of legal challenges and death threats in his home country, Husain had been living abroad in self-imposed exile since 2006 and was offered Qatari citizenship in January 2010, which he accepted.
As he had not responded to summons from an Indian district court in Haridwar, his properties in India were attached as per court orders and a bailable warrant was issued against him by the court.
Though Husain had been saying that he was keen to return to India, his wish had remained unfulfilled.
Some of the prominent reactions –
“A man of multi-dimensional talent, his death would create a deep void in the world of art and creativity. He also brought glory to the house as a Parliamentarian.” (Husain was a Rajya Sabha member from 1986-1992.)
– Pratibha Patil, President
“I am deeply grieved to learn about the sad demise of Maqbool Fida Husain, a legend of art of our times. To most Indians, he came to represent modern Indian art. He will always be remembered for his love of India that was reflected in his paintings. ”
– Hamid Ansari, Vice President
“His death is a national loss.”
– Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister
“Husain’s death has created a vacuum in the creative world.”
– Meira Kumar, Lok Sabha Speaker
“Damage may have been caused to modern art due to his demise. Thats all. May Allah give him peace. As an artist, everyone has a domain and Husain handled his modern art with zeal. However, he ‘slipped’ while drawing paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses.”
– Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena Chief
“Whatever controversies happened should be laid to rest with his passing and if his family wishes to bring back the mortal remains home, it should be allowed.”
– Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra Navanirman Sena Chief
“Husain always proved that he was different with his style of handling the subjects, presentation and use of colours.”
– Prithviraj Chavan, Maharashtra Chief Minister
“In Husain’s death we have lost a legend … it has caused massive loss to modern Indian art.”
– Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister
“Husain was a great artist. India has lost a renowned artist today.”
– Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP Spokesperson
“He represented the resurgence of Indian art, his death is a huge loss to the nation.”
– Jayanthi Natarajan, Congress Spokesperson
“I knew he was in hospital for some time but am very sad to hear about his demise. Husain was a very, very close friend. I knew him long before his first exhibition in 1954.”
– Kishen Khanna, Fellow Painter of the Progressive Art Movement
“I feel a sense of huge loss. It is also a tragic feeling that he had to die in a foreign country. It is a pain, I think it a black mark on the Indian state which has not understood the immensity and the relevance of Husain.”
– Jitish Kallat, Contemporary Artist
“I have known him for 55 years, he has touched my life in so many ways and so often. It is difficult to visualise that he is no more and I had never realised that he had aged.”
– Anjolie Ela Menon, Contemporary Artist
Filed On: Jun 09, 2011 12:02 IST , Edited On: Jun 09, 2011 17:40 IST
—PTI