Click to play videoNew Delhi: Maqbool Fida Husain is the latest book on the artist that tries to capture his long, very long, life - from his initial years of struggle and poverty to life under the arc lights and beyond.
The book covers 60 years of paintings done by the prolific artist. And writer K Bikram Singh put it all together in a short span of past three years, shuttling between India and Dubai as well as London.
Recently released in the Capital by the gallery Rahul and Art, the book will hold your interest because the contents are not split in a chronological order. Instead, each chapter is based on different subjects. For instance, paintings on just women, his horses, a seperate chapter on religion, tributes - from Indira Gandhi to Mother Teresa - and of course, his love for cinema.
But here's something that the book does not have for various reasons.
Author K Bikram Singh says, "The absence of Ramayan paintings from the Badri Vishal collection are not in the book. Ideally, they should be in the public domain, and not letting them be seen in public is sad."
Artist Krishen Khanna adds, "There is no mention in the book about his meeting with Rossellini. Rossellini bought a couple of Husains and got really close with the artist and he was also sent to console his wife, Ingrid Bergman."
Now that scoop is surely a big miss in the book. But it still has a lot more to offer. It is available at all Crossword bookstores at the price of Rs 10,000.
The book is one of best references available on M F Husain, but no book can really do justice to his works because even as this was being released in the Capital, a fresh set of his canvases at the International Islamic Art Museum in Doha have been launched.
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