Arrival

M. F. Husain invested a good deal of his painterly emotions in representing the female figure, whether peasant, homebody, lover, or mother. Their feminine lure as well as inherent strength appealed to him, and he devoted a large part of his career in pursuit of these ideals. Arrival marks the entrance of a nubile young woman on the scene and depicts the departure of two wraith-like, shadowy female figures, leaving us to wonder at their identity. Is the new arrival her predecessor’s love interest? Perhaps this is the passing of the baton from one generation to the next? With her gold burnished body, Husain attests to her youth, but refrains from showing us her face that remains hidden in shadows. Beside it are faces—presumably belonging to the women shown walking away—looking down on us as though in warning: those who come must also leave; that life is impermanent and illusory; that youth too shall pass. For all his maverick ways, Husain was concerned with issues of both morality and mortality—and this painting has lessons in both for us.