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UNTITLED from the “Raj” series, 1985
Watercolor on paper
38 ¼ x 30 ½ inches
Private collection |
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| Maqbool Fida Husain |
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Born 1915, Pundharpur, Maharashtra, India
Died 2011 in London |
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| This watercolor from Maqbool Fida Husain’s 1985 “Raj” series addresses colonial encounters with wit and satire. A British colonial officer and his wife return from a tiger hunt; the tiger’s body dangling from the side of the elephant indicates the hunter’s prowess and potency. The couple is attended by a chowrie-bearer, who brushes away flies and further indicates the passengers’ importance. Here, Husain implied that emissaries of the British Empire assumed the role of a maharaja, a ruler over the former sovereign Indian states. |
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