Substance & Drama Were Two Sides of the Same Coin for M. F. Husain

Even after his passing as during his lifetime, M. F. Husain remains India’s most well-known artist. It was on June 9, 2011, that Husain passed away at the age of 97 in London, in exile, having been chastised out of India as a result of the controversy arising out of his contentious paintings of Hindu goddesses.

Despite the controversies that he was besieged by especially during his later years, Husain remained the most sensational artist India has ever seen. And that status hasn’t changed even 15 years after his passing.

Remembering him on his death anniversary is not only an attempt to evoke the heady times for art that he strode in like a titan but also to celebrate the lifelong dedication to a practice by a man whose career, in a way, defined the trajectory of Indian art itself.

Husain is best remembered for the flamboyance that was his personal signature, and which he brought to the world of art as well. He never did anything in parts, neither his public persona, nor his personal growth as an artist was ever bereft of drama.

Drama, many say, played a major role in making Husain India’s most visible and most well-known artist. But drama, without substance, one can safely say with absolute conviction, can only take one that far. Drama has to be accompanied by profound depth, which Husain had in a manner that is baffling; else, he would have never become what he did. Husain’s death anniversary is a day of recollection for me like none other because the day he passed away and news spread quickly from London to India, I was emotionally charged and feeling the weight of the moment. It was a day for me to write an obituary that would encapsulate my years of experience of having interacted with him. But I was denied that opportunity by some vile people at work who wanted to snatch away one of the biggest moments of my career from me. Drama unfolded in my office, befitting its subject—M. F. Husain. Though the day ended with me writing his obituary after a lot of heartbreak and heated arguments, Husain’s death anniversary will always remain etched in my mind for having given me a slice of drama that he lived and worked by all his life.