M.F. Husain’s 100th Birthday

Today's Doodle celebrates the 100th birthday of one of India's most renowned and multifaceted artists, M.F. Husain, who passed away June 9th, 2011, at the age of 95. 

Maqbool Fida Husain, commonly known as M.F. Husain, has been called "The Picasso of India.” This was partly due to his modernist, slightly cubist paintings and to the sheer volume of work he produced. His middle name, Fida, can be translated as “obsessed” or “devoted,” which could also describe his approach to making art. 

Husain’s first love was cinema and he originally set out to become a film director in Bombay. But in order to make a living, he got a job painting film billboards and making toys. Painting soon became his passion, and inspired by the changes in India in the late 1940s, he helped found The Progressive Artists Group of Bombay (PAG). He and his fellow artists attempted to address Indian themes, culture and people in a modern way and bring Indian art to an international audience. Husain became particularly known for his energetic painting of horses and serial depictions of classic narratives such as the Mahabharata. 

Eventually the recognition and acclaim he received from his early paintings led him back to cinema. With funding from the government of India, he wrote and directed his first film, Through the Eyes of a Painter. The success of that first film led to film projects and a close relationship with cinema that he would maintain throughout the rest of his life. Still he continued to paint, make prints, take photos and find new themes and ideas to explore. He was ever restless, ever prolific and energized by the world around him. 

As he said in a television interview in 2010, "What is this physical presence? In today's world with so much technology and communication you are everywhere and a creative person is not bound by any geography." This doodle celebrates Husain's unapologetic devotion to beauty, people, and the world.