Untitled

In the 1960s, India faced two wars—with China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965. This Untitled, ink-on-paper work comes from this decade, when Husain made quite a few works depicting soldiers as well as war paraphernalia. The striking battle tank in black draws attention but on looking closely, one sees a human skull embedded in the machinery. It is a trenchant comment from an artist on the futility of neighbours using war as a means to settle scores. As history has borne out, the parties that went to war in the 1960s continue to have outstanding, unresolved issues.