Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Indian "Picasso" has died in exile in India aged 95. Maqbool Fida Husain, better known by his alias MF Husain, one of the most talented artists of India, died in exile in London Monday June 9 in hospital. He had been the target of controversy and attacks by Hindu radicals, since the '90s. He was a great admirer of the Blessed Mother Teresa, to whom devoted a famous series of paintings. For Huisain gods, saints, martyrs and sages represented the highest level of human evolution as possible amplifications of the individual self. In this context, he frequently quoted Mother Teresa as a symbol of the ethical possibilities of compassion and altruism.
"Mother Teresa was a true reflection of love for humanity. She was the greatest soul dedicated to humanity of all time. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. After that I began to paint Mother Teresa, for all 25 years. Maa Yoshoda was the foster mother of Krishna, in the same way Mother Teresa was the adoptive mother of the world. My works are a tribute to Mother, who said: 'Give until it hurts'. " So said M.F. Husain unveiling his portrait of Mother Teresa at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on 30 June 2010.
In fact, Husain’s paintings reveal a harboured affection for Mother Teresa. "Art is the portrait of a life that gives us peace, and a feeling of fullness. My effort is to pay a tribute to Mother and to her great love and tenderness towards the poor. And also I want to help raise awareness of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, how they help the orphans, the elderly, AIDS patients, the dying and as they recover prostitutes from prison and give food to the hungry, "said Husain. The artist made a series of paintings to celebrate the beatification of Mother Teresa in Bombay, October 18, 2003, and even a "Mother Teresa Series," whose colours - white and blue - allow the immediately recall the religious. Most of these paintings feature the Mother with a small child playing in her lap, and another nearby.
Maqbool Fida Husain was born September 17, 1915 at Pandharpur, in Madhya Pradesh. His mother, Zunaib, died when he was three years. His father remarried and moved to Indore. As a child, Maqbool studied the art of calligraphy and Kulfic Khat, with its geometric forms. At 20, he later moved to Mumbai, where he decided to study to become a painter. In the '90s some of his works have become a source of dispute: they are of the goddesses of the Hindu pantheon nude or in an attitude that has been judged sexually suggestive. The works were painted in 1970, but did not become a problem until 1996, when they were published in a magazine in India. Now Husain has received eight separate judicial complaints court which the Delhi High Court quashed in 2004.
In 1998 Husain's house was attacked by radical Hindus from the Bajrang Dal and his works vandalized. About 26 activists were arrested. The protests against him led to the closure of an exhibition in London, and death threats. In 2006 Husain was again accused of "hurting the feelings of the people" because of his nude Hindu gods and goddesses and a naked woman, "Mother India". Other complaints have led to a warrant without bail. The artist left the country, declaring that "business conditions have become so complicated that I was advised not to return home." The Bajrang Dal, a Hindu radical movement, said that India will oppose the return of the body of MF Husain.