Untitled

A peripatetic painter, M. F. Husain travelled widely to absorb experiences and make sketches, which would give rise to myriad paintings. He first visited Kerala in the late 1960s, producing a comprehensive body of work on the state in 1968. He would visit the state many more times in future, his trips giving rise to rich, colourful canvases such as this Untitled one, capturing the naturally bright palette of the southern Indian coastal state. He has been quoted in Amitabh Kant’s 2002 book <i>God’s Own Country</i>: ‘If Kashmir is about men and mountains, Kerala is about women and nature’—a statement which this canvas bears out beautifully.