M. F. Husain’s Bulls Masterpiece Headlines Sotheby’s South Asian Art Sale

Sotheby’s upcoming Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art auction features 75 lots that span from India and Pakistan to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Leading the sale is Maqbool Fida Husain’s Bulls painting from 1961. This painting “epitomizes the very essence of Husain, modernizing mythology to deliver a secular message,” says Sotheby’s Manjari Sihare-Sutin, Vice President, Specialist, Head of Sale New York. This painting featured on the cover of 1971’s Husain, a monograph on the artist that introduced Husain to a global audience and marked a watershed moment in his career. The work depicts a bull with sharp, muscular brushstrokes. A pale blue handprint marks the animal. The auction house notes that the image evokes the Hand of Fatima and the Hamsa, symbols of luck and protection. 

Additional lots of interest include a 1963 oil pastel and acrylic on canvas painting by Francis Newton Souza. Titled John the Baptist, this work reimagines the biblical preacher in a stark black outline and limited color palette. Other Indian artists with work in the catalog include Sayed Haider Raza, Amar Nath Sehgal, and B. Prabha. A woodcut print of Zarina’s Mapping the Dislocations from 2001 is also on offer. A Minimalist artist, Zarina built her career around the concepts of home, displacement, and transience. Visit Sotheby’s to view the complete Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art catalog and register to bid.