M.F. Hussain accepts Qatar citizenship

[Mariyam]

I think the theory of a "Muslim painter/artist' taking the micky out of the Hindus, painting Hindu godesses nude, mother and son (Parwati & Ganesha) nude and together (incest??), Godess Durga having sex with lion etc. acted as catalyst.. The sculptures in the temples dipict various sexual scenes (even animals are involved) however they don't suggest incest and also not suggest Godesses having sex with animals (as far as I remember of what I saw during my trip to Khajuraho)..

Asterix ji- The thing here is that MF wasn't taking the micky out of Hindus. Why such a theory? By all accounts, he was an expert on Hinduism and being born in Pandharpur, a regular in the yearly mela there till he left the town. To his credit, he is the only person who has painted the Ramayan in stills. Saw something to this effect on NDTV yesterday. You can check that up. Personally, I do not think he was intentionally denigrating anyone.

[asterix]

Asterix ji- The thing here is that MF wasn't taking the micky out of Hindus. Why such a theory? By all accounts, he was an expert on Hinduism and being born in Pandharpur, an regular in the yearly mela there till he left the town. To his credit, he is the only person who has painted the Ramayan in stills. Saw something to this effect on NDTV yesterday. You can check that up. Personally, I do not think he was intentionally denigrating anyone.

Mariyam Ji, I was saying that the right wing loonies used that theory..This is not my theory... Try the same reasoning with somebody who is coming to vandalise the art exhibition. Try telling him that Hussain was born in Pandharpur etc..

[Guest Gunner]

That's incorrect. You are entitled to your opinion of Hussain's paintings' date=' but he was an internationally recognized name much before any of these controversies. He was awarded Padma Shri and Vibhushan along with other international awards long before any of these controversies, in fact even before he experimented with this genre of nude Gods and Goddesses.[/quote'] I was stating my opinion and quite frankly I am not sure too many people would recognize Hussain's work in art circles, however I could be wrong on the second part.

[Guest Gunner]

Perceptions can be right or wrong - in this case they are wrong' date=' in others they have been correct as well. I am not arguing the merit of perceptions, but [b']the philosophy behind using them to create further divisions in the society rather than correcting the wrongs.

That is what I have said, these perceptions have been used constantly by major political parties in India to garner votes. Neither major political party is oblivious to that.

[Guest Gunner]

Asterix ji- The thing here is that MF wasn't taking the micky out of Hindus. Why such a theory? By all accounts, he was an expert on Hinduism and being born in Pandharpur, a regular in the yearly mela there till he left the town. To his credit, he is the only person who has painted the Ramayan in stills. Saw something to this effect on NDTV yesterday. You can check that up. Personally, I do not think he was intentionally denigrating anyone.

I don't think he was denigrating anyone intentionally or unintentionally. He is an artist and painted from his imagination and he is entitled to do so. The whole idea of this "he upset the hindoos" slant was given by the right wing loonies. Which led to many hindus beginning to genuinely feel hurt and turn against the poor man.

[The Outsider]

That is what I have said' date=' these perceptions have been used constantly by major political parties in India to garner votes. Neither major political party is oblivious to that.[/quote'] I agree. Don't think I was saying anything different.

[Sir john]

Big B cherishes Husain''s painting gifted during Coolie episode

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan today mourned the death of M F Husain and said the best gift he received from the celebrated artist was a painting of Lord Hanuman when he was recuperating after an accident on the sets of 'Coolie'. "M F Husain, artist, painter, friend... passes away! Sad, very sad! Many of his works and gifts adorn my home," Bachchan said on micro-blogging site Twitter. "Husain's best painting gift to me... a Hanuman with 'Sanjeevani booti' flying... given to me in Breach Candy Hospital, during the Coolie episode," he said. During the shooting of Manmohan Desai's film 'Coolie' in 1982 Bachchan was critically injured in the intestines while filming a fight scene with co-star Puneet Issar which almost cost him his life. The 68-year-old actor also mentioned about other paintings of Husain, given to him, which he cherished. "Another special painting he did for me... translated my poem I wrote in Hospital, on canvas... very special and most endearing!!," Big B said.

link

[The Outsider]

ok I did some googling and found out that there were complaints filed with Illustrated Weekly and he actually apologized. But for some strange reason he decided to reopen the can of worms yrs later.

Excuse me? Who opened the can of worms years later? These paintings were there in public and private art galleries for years. Illustrated Weakly did an article on them in the 80s and as you say, he apologized when there were some minor and civil complaints. Shouldn't that have been the end of the matter? What was the need for VHP and Bajrang Dal to file 1000+ cases against a 80 year old man for paintings drawn 2 decades earlier, for which he has already apologized? What was the need for them to issue death threats against him? What was the need for them to vandalize his galleries? Can you explain how Hussain opened this can of worms in the 90s - he didn't even own the vast majority of those paintings at that point of time to have any jurisdiction of when and where they can be displayed?

[asterix]

Doing some Google research about M F Hussain. Fascinating to know about his persona.. Here's one.. He was not an admirer of eminent artist Raja Ravi Varma [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raja_Ravi_Varma]. Don't know why he didn't liked Ravi Varma.. :dontknow:

Kerala govt in a spot over Ravi Varma award to Husain [india] Aug 14, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's Left government is in a fix over its decision to confer the prestigious Raja Ravi Varma award, instituted in the name of the 19th century maestro, to M F Husain. What has made the situation ticklish for state culture minister M A Baby is that Husain, according to reports, was not one of Ravi Varma's best admirers and had even opposed a 1993 exhibition of his works in the national capital as ominous signs for secularism. The retrospective organised by the then Congress government at Delhi's National Museum had drawn criticism from Husain and other veteran artists. They had criticised the Union government for its alleged promotion of Ravi Varma as the pioneer of modern movement in Indian art. The statement which was reported by a well-known weekly (The Illustrated Weekly) in its July 17-23, 1993 issue said, ''For those who do not subscribe to the evolutionist approach in Indian art, the notion of Ravi Varma being a precursor of the Modern Movement in Indian art is absurd.'' The report quoted the signatories who sought to read the timing of the exhibition with the political overtones of the Ayodhya movement. ''The projection of Ravi Varma today has a political basis,'' it said quoting Husain. Reached for comments, Baby said, ''We do not look into the entire history of a person when we decide to award him. The government appointed a jury headed by renowned artist Vivan Sundram and they chose Husain. If one were to ask whether any artist was awarded after taking into account all controversies surrounding him, then I would only say that those who raise such questions don't know what art is.'' For Reprint Rights: timescontent.com http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/times-of-india-the/mi_8012/is_20090814/kerala-govt-spot-ravi-varma/ai_n39607612/

Although looking at Ravi Varma's paintings, you can understand why MF Hussain didn't liked him...

[The Outsider]

What ? So according to your logic I slap someone and apologize and the apology is accepted the matter is closed so that I can go slap that same person again pretending that the matter is resolved and expect not be dealt with harshly this time ?

Slapped again? How? The last painting of the genre he did was in the mid 70s.

The complaints were made immediately after he first published them in the 70s (Not 80s) . He apologized but then decided to repeat the whole thing again by publishing it in a different news magzine many yrs later. Completely his fault.

MF Hussain published them in a news magazine? Are you telling me MF Hussain had editorial control over Illustrated Weekly or wrote an article for the magazine with the pictures? If I post a picture of a Monet painting on ICF, that means Monet published it on ICF?

[ganeshran]

There is a fundamental problem in this and it is do with the assumption that we consider Hinduism on par with Islam because the world see's them both as religions. I obviously don't subscribe to that and I will you tell you exactly why and what and how in the discussion we are having on the sidelines.

You might not see them on par, but both Hinduism and Islam are religions - no matter how different their core ideologies are. If we condemn the insecure religious nutcases who hounded Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen, it is by a natural extension of that argument that similar nutcases who hounded Hussain be condemned in the same light. I will support the freedom of expression of all three equally. The attitude that preaches tolerance as long as one's own core sensibilities aren't challenged, is a hypocritical one.

[The Outsider]

Is this also done differently in your world ? :blink: You understand the concept of repeat offense ? http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-02-07/india/27814790_1_hjs-m-f-hussain-noted-painter

I am sorry - I can't explain it more plainly. Perhaps someone else can help here. Last attempt : 1. Hussain's last painting in this genre is from the mid 70s. 2. Hussain had apologized for it subsequently. 3. Repeated publication of photographs of his paintings in different magazines or on websites was not in his control. If Illustrated Weekly publishes them in 1985, India Today in 1995, Outlook in 2005, and Frontline in 2015 Hussain cannot do anything about it.

[CSK Fan]

You contradict yourself. His paintings incited violence and hatred. He should have thought twice about the ramifications of his paintings before playing the victim card and fleeing the country. Did he seriously not expect a violent protest after painting such filth? Probably not.

When an artist, in any field, be it art, paintings, music, thinks about anyone's reaction, he ceases to be an artist, but because a pimp of the people. A true artists never thinks, he does art for the sake of art

[asterix]

The problem recured when Hussain did the "Bharat Mata " painting in 2006..He was charged for being the "repeat offender".. He fled from India..Later Supreme court absolved him of the charge (2008) but Hussain decided to not take any more chances and applied for Qatar citizenship.. One of the common factor in all these controversies was his effective use of Illustrated Weekly..His 'like minded' friend Khushwant Singh (editor) helped him a lot to create various controversies.. They were part of this leftist group of artist and editors..Some Pakistani artists were part of this group too.. Coming to know all this is a facts.. Hussain clearly had an agenda..This group had an agenda..Khushwant Singh was himself known for his controversial views.. BTW, Khushwant Singh was the first eminent person in India who proposed BAN on Salman Rushdies book..I wonder what happened to his "progressive thinking" and "artistic freedom" at that time..

[yoda]

When an artist' date=' in any field, be it art, paintings, music, thinks about anyone's reaction, he ceases to be an artist, but because a pimp of the people. A true artists never thinks, he does art for the sake of art[/quote'] Just like he has the freedom to express himself, people are free to express how they feel about his paintings and if possible take the legal route if necessary. I am not talking people threatening him or burning his paintings, just referring to those who have done it the legal way.

[ganeshran]

Wrong on those counts ... the Nude Bharatmata painting exists even as of today on his website and it was painted around 2005. End of story. And with that Iam pretty sure there will be a lot of silence that will come back as a reply as I'am pretty sure you have evacuated. so I wont bother highlighting his other offenses. http://www.mfhussain.com/paintings/category/3-paintingsofmfhussain

how is painting a nude portrait a humiliation? was michealangelo humiliating Christianity on tge walls of the Sistine Chapell? were the roman sculptors humiliating David by erecting his nude sculptures?

[urbestfriend]

I would like posters to read this classic interview of MF published in Tehlaka way back in 2008 to understand his perspective before going either way. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main37.asp?filename=Ne020208in_hindu_culture.asp

Why did you apologise for your art? You know more about Hindu iconography and the shastras than the goons who deface your work. Never. I have never apologised for my art. I stand by it totally. What I said was that I have painted my canvases — including those of gods and goddesses— with deep love and conviction, and in celebration. If in doing that, I have hurt anyone’s feelings, I am sorry. That is all. I do not love art less, I love humanity more. India is a completely unique country. Liberal. Diverse. There is nothing like it in the world. This mood in the country is just a historical process. For me, India means a celebration of life. You cannot find that same quality anywhere in the world.

[Sachin=GOD]

I agreed with his point on retrospective morality which is absolutely valid in this case. If we continued on that track we will one day end up destroying kajuraho since some idiot like Thackeray will say it is against "Indian culture". As far as hussain's paintings are concerned what about it is offensive to you? Read the Arthashastra, Chanakya mandates punishment for those who engage in sexual acts with images of female goddesses, what does that tell you? The concept of displaying hindu goddesses in a sexual manner or fantasizing sex with them has existed as a part of India since ancient times. I simply don't agree that Hussain came along and did something so blasphemous that no one has done before. On another note, Hussain's art sucks, he is an average painter at best who should have faded into obscurity if not for all this bruhaha. I have spent a lot of time visiting art galleries around Europe and I can tell you that hussain's works are uninspiring to say the very least.

I agree to that. He was India's most famous painter but by no means was India's best painter. It was just because of all these controversies that he became a celebrated artist. Tyeb Mehta and Syad Haider Raza are/were leagues ahead of Hussain as painters.

[The Outsider]

Wrong on those counts ... the Nude Bharatmata painting exists even as of today on his website and it was painted around 2005. End of story. And with that Iam pretty sure there will be a lot of silence that will come back as a reply as I'am pretty sure you have evacuated. so I wont bother highlighting his other offenses. http://www.mfhussain.com/paintings/category/3-paintingsofmfhussain

1. The violent protests, vandalism, and court cases by Bajrang Dal and VHP are also from the 90s, and not 2005. 2. Bharat Mata is not strictly a Hindu Goddess - the depiction belongs to all Indians irrespective of religion. 3. There is no sexual connotation in the Bharat Mata painting, which was the objection for the earlier ones from the 70s. 4. The Supreme Court upheld it as a work of art. PS : I really don't get why you are making these ad hominem personal attacks on others like 'fake Hindu', 'evacuated' when as far as I can see no one has done so to you in this thread. If someone is going to respond it'll just take the entire discussion downhill.

[Sidhoni]

These are the some of the sculptures in Khajuraho. I ask again, have we become so intolerant that we have to take revenge on a 90 year old artist to 'save' and 'defend our faith'? Are the nutters who attacked Hussain, ashamed of our heritage? Of our ancestors who were progressive enough to view the human body as an art form and recognized sex as a vital bodily function and not something to be swept under the carpet?

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