MF Hussain

MF Hussain



Maqbool Fida Husain, (born September 17, 1915, Pandharpur, Bombay Presidency, British India) popularly known as MF.

According to Forbes magazine, he has been called the "Picasso of India". In 1996 controversy arose over paintings originally painted in the 1970s which were interpreted as anti-Hindu. After legal cases in his home country, he was on a self imposed exile from 2006. In January, 2010, he was offered the citizenship of Qatar, which he accepted.

In 1952, his first solo exhibition was held at Zürich and over the next few years, his work was widely seen in Europe and the U.S. In 1955, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shree prize by the Government of India.

In 1967, he made his first film, Through the Eyes of a Painter. It was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won a Golden Bear.

M. F. Husain was a special invitee along with Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1971. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1991.

Husain went on to become the highest paid painter in India. His single canvases have fetched up to $2 million at a recent Christie's auction.

He has also worked on few movies, including Gaja Gamini (with his muse Madhuri Dixit who was the subject of a series of his paintings which he signed Fida). The film was intended as a tribute to Ms. Dixit herself. He went on to make Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (with Tabu). His autobiography is being made into a movie tentatively titled The Making of the Painter, starring Shreyas Talpade as the young Hussain.