Untitled

M. F. Husain never painted landscapes like his fellow Progressive S. H. Raza but nature remained a leitmotif in his art, often as an unobtrusive background. In this Untitled work, the artist captures a maiden in a forest; the banana leaves evoke a coastal location like Kerala, a state that he travelled to multiple times as a flâneur. Her bare bosom and very little clothing otherwise suggest she is in the midst of a bath or changing her clothes just when a simian disturbs her private moment. The scenography is sexually suggestive. It’s interesting to note that this work was created the same year Husain was invited to show his works alongside Pablo Picasso at Sao Paolo Biennale.