Untitled (Figure with horse)

The juxtaposition of man and animal is a theme to which Maqbool Fida Husain frequently returns. Husain's horses are proud, powerful and valiant often matching or even overpowering the human figures they oppose. Echoes of German Expressionism surface in this early work, with its preference for strong emotive lines, gestural brushstrokes and brooding, psychological subject matter. The vibrant and powerful male presence of the horse, its long white mane and prominence in Husain's artwork, appear to give the stallion more significance than simply that of an animal and asks if the omnipresent figure of the horse in Husain's work serves as a symbol for the artist himself.