In the 1960s, Husain strode like an unchallenged colossus across the firmament of Indian art. Myth and metaphor mixed in his work, leaving viewers to interpret their meaning. Here, Husain’s female figure becomes the pivot of interest for the elephant that seems suspended in an orb in front of her, recalling the legend of Buddha’s mother, Queen Maya, and her dream of an elephant entering her womb from the right. Court astrologers predicted that the child she had conceived would become either a world ruler or an enlightened being.
published references
Singh, Kishore, ed., Master Maqbool: Works by M. F. Husain (New Delhi: DAG, 2022), p. 9
M. F. Husain
Untitled (Maya's Dream)
1964
Oil on canvas
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M. F. Husain
Untitled (Maya's Dream)
1964
Oil on canvas
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