Maqbool Fida Husain alias M.F.Hussain one of India's most gifted artists, is an accomplished painter mostly famous for his paintings on Indian women and also for his habit of getting into controversies. With a career spanning several decades, this multi-faceted artist has made significant contributions in other fields also- as a director, photographer and member of the Indian Parliament etc.
In 1937, he started his career painting cinema hoardings for a livelihood. He had a tough time initially, but as the earning got better he visited Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes. He also tried his luck in other jobs and the best paid job was at a toy factory, where he designed and built fretwork toys. In between, Hussain got married to Fazila in the year 1941 and they had two daughters Raisa and Aqueela and three sons, Mustafa, a restaurateur and Shamshad and Owais, both painters themselves.
His series of all over India exhibitions during the period 1948 to 1950 made him a publicly known artist. He conducted his first solo exhibition in Mumbai in1952. In 1954, he was nominated as an eminent artist by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. The following year he won the national award at the Lalit Kala Akademi's first national exhibition.
In a span of several years, Hussain has done a series of paintings on several subjects including the British Raj, on major cities such as Calcutta, Benares, Rome, Beijing; on the Epics- Mahabharata and Ramayana; a whole series on Mother Teresa, on the major nine religions of the world and a series on horses. A big mural of his, around 40 feet high called the Portrait of the 20th Century depicts all the major personalities of arts, science, dance, literature, politics etc.
Hussain was arrested and charged with hurting sentiments of people following his controversial nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses. The court ordered that the artist's should have freedom of expression, but with a limit of un hurting the sentiments of the people.
This talented artist rose to international fame from a humble beginning and has become the highest paid painter in India. His single canvases have fetched up to 2 million dollars.
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