News stating that two paintings by the legendary artist MF Husain have been ordered to seize by a Delhi Court smeared the frontline of major media publications. The controversy over Husain’s works being offensive, depicting Hindu gods and goddesses in an objectionable manner has been reignited.
This is also of the tragic reasons why the artist was exiled, spending his latter years outside India. I wonder what has happened to artistic freedom and creative expression in India. It is often forgotten that Husain's art has been fuelled by his love for India from depicting Lord Krishna and Lord Ganesha to his magnum opus on the Indian civilisation.
For me, Husain has been synonymous with horses. A subject which he continued to paint at different chapters and points of his career.
Myth and legend portray the horse as a celestial creature coming down from the heavenly abode. However, it is still unclear when and how horses came to India. While epic tales such as the Mahabharata speak of the horse-drawn chariot, excavations in India from the Bronze Age as well as the Indus Valley have no bone remains, figurines or seals depicting the horse.
Perhaps the horse did exist and was then reintroduced with the Indo-Aryans. The ancient Vedas, attributed to being the oldest Hindu texts, speak highly of the horse mentioning its role and importance in battles and war.
Clearly, artists have found inspiration in the beauty and majesty of a horse for centuries now. From the beastly warrior horses during battle to the poised and genteel horse often linked with aristocracy and royalty.
Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci was commissioned to create a bronze sculpture of a horse in 1482 by the then Duke of Milan. Intended to be the largest equestrian statue in the world, Leonardo began by extensively researching and studying the horse. Several sketches later, the detailing was elaborate enough for him to put together a treatise on horse anatomy. Unfortunately, the statue was never completed by Da Vinci. Five centuries later, in 1977, when Charles Dent, an amateur artist and collector, read about the tragedy of Leonardo’s, ‘Horse That Never Was’, in a National Geographic magazine, he took up the mammoth task to complete what Da Vinci could not. He started a not-for-profit to fund the two-million-dollar project and dedicated 15 years of his life to it. Sadly, he passed away in 1994 before the statue could see the day of light.
In 1997, Japanese-American artist Nina Akamu was commissioned by them to make yet another attempt of completing the statue of Leonardo’s horse. After spending two years organising and studying Da Vinci’s original notes and sketches, Akamu completed a pending project of centuries. In 1999, the 24-foot bronze sculpture, an epitome of strength and grace, ‘The Horse’ was installed in Milan.
In the 18th century, equestrian art as a totally new genre of art emerged in the West. George Stubbs, a self-taught artist from Liverpool gained prominence in this subject, enjoying royal patronage. He explored his love for anatomy, studying the horse in great detail, dissecting horses for a period of 18 months.
Similar to Da Vinci, he published a book, ‘The Anatomy of a Horse’. The influence of the Greeks and Romans as well as the Renaissance Masters is evident with Stubbs’ works on the lion attacking a horse. Inspired by the sculpture, Lion Seizing a Horse, which is housed in Rome, George Stubbs began a series of works on the subject. Romanticising a horrific and ghastly attack his work emoted strength, power and prowess between two mighty creatures.
In comparison one of his most popular works, ‘Whistlejacket’, on permanent display at the National Gallery London, depicts the Marquess of Rockingham’s racehorse. Set against a plain background, Stubbs gives life to the horse in this large, life-size painting. Each minute detail is taken care of from the myriad shades of brown to the anatomy of the horse. The shadows and play of light by Stubbs adds grace and flair to the oil on canvas painting. Thousands of visitors flock to the painting of ‘Whistlejacket’ today to marvel at the great artistry of George Stubbs.
The horse continues to be revisited by modern and contemporary artists such as Husain. The upcoming sale by auction house SaffronArt has two exemplary works on the subject. While both works, one by Sudhanshu Sutar and the other by Subba Ghosh are abstract in nature, they bring fresh perspectives and new ways of seeing the horse.
Last year, President Droupadi Murmu restarted a tradition, which was abandoned for four decades after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. President Murmu made her way to Kartavya Path on a horse-pulled buggy during the Republic Day celebrations last January.
I wonder how many, if any artists would have captured that historic moment.