Celebrated Indian Artist (Painter) Maqbool Fida Husain died

Celebrated Indian artist (painter) M F Husain, died in London on 9 June 2011. He was popularly known as MF and was regarded as Picasso of India. He died in London, and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey.

M F Husain was born on September 17, 1915 in Pandharpur of Solapur District of Maharashtra. MF Husain did his schooling from Indore. In 1935, he moved to Bombay and joined Sir J. J. School of Art. He started off by painting cinema hoardings and came into limelight as a painter in the late 1940s.

In 1952, MF Husain's first solo exhibition was held at Zurich and soon he became popular in Europe and USA. Husain went on to become one of the highest paid painters in India. His paintings have fetched millions of dollars at the auction. In 1966, MF Husain was honored with Padma Shree by the Government of India. MF Husain’s first film was ‘Through the Eyes of a Painter’ in 1967. The film won a Golden Bear when it was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. He has also made two Hindi movies, (1) ‘Gaja Gamini’ and (2) ‘Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.’

His name was included in the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World issued by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan.

He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973 and recieved the Padma Vibhushan in 1991. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986.

A series of cases were brought against Husain and a court case related to the alleged obscene depiction of Hindu goddesses in his paintings resulted in issuing a non-bailable warrant against him. Qatari nationality was conferred upon him at the instance of the modernizing Qatar’s ruling family and had been living in Doha during the last years of his life.