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Lot Essay
Maqbool Fida Husain first met Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1979, an encounter that would have a profound impact on the artist and his work for the remainder of his life. Speaking of this ‘saint of Calcutta’ who founded the Missionaries of Charity there in the early 1950s, the artist noted, “I have tried to capture in my paintings what her presence meant to the destitute and the dying, the light and hope she brought by mere inquiry, by putting her hand over a child abandoned in the street. I did not cry at this encounter. I returned with so much strength and sadness that it continues to ferment within. That is why I try it again and again, after a gap of time, in a different medium. To translate that pain in my paintings, I think I will have to die of it” (Artist statement, I. Pal, Beyond the Canvas, An Unfinished Portrait of MF Husain, New Delhi, 1994, p. 166).
In the present lot, Husain paints Mother Teresa without a face, her corporeality implied by the modeling of her signature white cotton sari with a blue border. Although her form appears hollow, the benevolence of her figure is unmistakable, with street children pulling at the folds of her garment, a singing bird on her knee and lush flora growing around her. Like many of his other works, Husain’s detailing of this large format painting is selective; while the baby’s mouth gives voice to its plaintive cries neither of the other figures have facial features, emphasizing the emblematic status of both in the Indian imagination. The young indigents’ lack of self-sufficiency is powerfully contrasted with Mother Teresa’s sari, which is almost like a beacon against the deep green backdrop, promising succor and hope where there was none before.
Husain’s many portraits of Mother Teresa explore notions not only of the saint and her legendary compassion, but also of motherhood in general, relating her figure to those of the Virgin Mary and his own mother who died when he was a young child, and of nationhood in the form of Bharat Mata or Mother India. Husain’s treatment of her figure in this composition, both in her posture and his handling of the drape and folds of her habit, is iconic, reminding viewers of paintings and sculptures of the Pieta from Renaissance Italy, a quintessential image of suffering, betrayal and redemption.
Several years after painting this work, the artist recalled the poignant experience he had in Calcutta that inspired and shaped this series of paintings – one that became a definitive part of his oeuvre. “I was walking through the streets of Calcutta with my pen and my sketch book, when I saw her angelic form, draped in a white sari, her head covered, her face suffused with tender love and her posture discerning humility. She was comforting sick children and old people by holding their hands and praying for them. I felt that scene of love in every pore of my body. I just could not move away from there. That very day, I resolved to make a portrait of her but it would need a lot of study. Her personality, her presence and her work are so great; I cannot depict her in realistic form” (Artist statement, R. Siddiqui, In Conversation with Husain Paintings, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 202-203).
In the present lot, Husain paints Mother Teresa without a face, her corporeality implied by the modeling of her signature white cotton sari with a blue border. Although her form appears hollow, the benevolence of her figure is unmistakable, with street children pulling at the folds of her garment, a singing bird on her knee and lush flora growing around her. Like many of his other works, Husain’s detailing of this large format painting is selective; while the baby’s mouth gives voice to its plaintive cries neither of the other figures have facial features, emphasizing the emblematic status of both in the Indian imagination. The young indigents’ lack of self-sufficiency is powerfully contrasted with Mother Teresa’s sari, which is almost like a beacon against the deep green backdrop, promising succor and hope where there was none before.
Husain’s many portraits of Mother Teresa explore notions not only of the saint and her legendary compassion, but also of motherhood in general, relating her figure to those of the Virgin Mary and his own mother who died when he was a young child, and of nationhood in the form of Bharat Mata or Mother India. Husain’s treatment of her figure in this composition, both in her posture and his handling of the drape and folds of her habit, is iconic, reminding viewers of paintings and sculptures of the Pieta from Renaissance Italy, a quintessential image of suffering, betrayal and redemption.
Several years after painting this work, the artist recalled the poignant experience he had in Calcutta that inspired and shaped this series of paintings – one that became a definitive part of his oeuvre. “I was walking through the streets of Calcutta with my pen and my sketch book, when I saw her angelic form, draped in a white sari, her head covered, her face suffused with tender love and her posture discerning humility. She was comforting sick children and old people by holding their hands and praying for them. I felt that scene of love in every pore of my body. I just could not move away from there. That very day, I resolved to make a portrait of her but it would need a lot of study. Her personality, her presence and her work are so great; I cannot depict her in realistic form” (Artist statement, R. Siddiqui, In Conversation with Husain Paintings, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 202-203).