Редкая акварель М.Ф. Хусейна «Фантазия» продана на аукционе за 25,65 млн рупий

Know your art: Fantasy by MF Husain This delicate watercolour belongs to an early and relatively intimate phase of Husain’s practice, preceding the forceful, abbreviated visual language that would come to define his mature work Text and image courtesy: AstaGuru Auction House Executed circa 1946, Fantasy belongs to an early and relatively intimate phase of MF Husain’s practice, preceding the forceful, abbreviated visual language that would come to define his mature work. Rendered in delicate watercolour, the composition unfolds like an enchanted interior in which the boundaries between the natural world and the world of objects have been suspended. The work evokes the imaginative logic of a child’s toy room, where ordinary categories are freely rearranged and familiar forms acquire new identities. What distinguishes the painting is Husain’s sustained attention to line. The contours are exceptionally fine and measured, articulated with a delicacy far removed from the vigorous black outlines and compressed forms of his later vocabulary. The title Fantasy is less an indication of escapism than a description of Husain’s imaginative method: The transformation of the familiar through visual association. This reading gains particular resonance from Husain’s own early experience at the Bombay-based Fantasy Furniture Shop, where, during the 1940s, he designed nursery furniture and wooden toys before leaving in 1947 to pursue painting fully. Made at a crucial moment in Husain’s development, this 15x23 inch artwork offers a rare glimpse of an artist whose inventive relationship with the everyday was taking shape. It was auctioned by AstaGuru in 2024 for ₹25.65 lakh. - Home / - Life / - Know-your-art / - Know-your-art-fantasy-by-mf-husain