Maqbool fida husain biography of abraham david

Born: 17 September Died: 9 June More than any other artist of India, MF Husain has truly defined modern Indian painting and has also helped in creating a special place for Indian art, not only in the social space but also on the serious art domains and art markets of the world. As a general belief, Husain was born on 17th of September , a date which he has thought of when he applied for a passport on for the first time having no proof of his birth date.

In his own words, Husain explained in conversation with his biographer, Ila Pal:. I knew I was a Leo, but did not know the date and the year.

M F Husain, became a legend in Indian art history.

Belonging to a Sulemani community, he was born to Fida Husain and Zaineb in the temple town of Pandharpur, Maharashtra in an age where there was no tradition of recording the date of birth of a child, particularly amongst the rural poor in India. As a Sulemani, whose number in India is very small, Husain thus belonged not only to the minority community of Muslims in India, he is part of a minority within a minority.

This perhaps is one of the key factors that has prompted him to aggressively appropriate a broader and composite Indian identity, including the Hindu mythology and iconography, in his art. He heard stories that as he lay unconscious with burning fever, his mother circumambulated his bed seven times praying to God to take her life and spare that of her son, a story which haunted Husain throughout his life.

For him, Dada Abdul became a symbol of ordinary man who gives without expectation and thus represents true humanity. It was in the Muharram procession, which though Sulemanis do not take part in, Husain went to see in the company of other boys. It was in that procession that Husain first encountered the replicas of Bada Duldul and Chhota Duldul, the brave horses of Hazrat Ali and Imam Husain, the son-in-law and grandson of the Prophet who were killed in the battle of Karbala.

As the bond between Dada Abdul and Husain become even closer when Dada no longer have to work for a living, Husain had his first introduction to real horses. After picking him up from school, his grandfather would often take him to the workshop of Acchan Mian, a farrier, one who fixes iron shoes on horse hooves. As the two old men share tea in earthen cups, Husain would watch with fascination the horses that came to the shop and the way the iron shoes were fixed on their hooves.

This has then became a complex motif in his paintings — a symbol of easy friendship, grace, valor, virility, freedom and more. Husain was about ten years old when Dada Abdul died.