Painter Maqbool Fid-Alvida

Celebrated Indian artist M F Husain, who earned both fame and wrath for his paintings, died in london today after being unwell for over a month.He was 95. Popularly known as MF and regarded as the 'Picasso of India', the artist breathed his last at the Royal Brompton Hospital at 2.30 am local time. Husain had been keeping 'indifferent health' for the last one-and-a-half month, family sources said. It was not immediately clear whether the artist, who was once a member of Rajya Sabha and had been decorated with nation's second highest award Padma Vibhushan, had any wish regarding his last rites. Family members said that funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised.
M F Husain, described by the Forbes magazine as the 'Picasso of India', was born on September 17, 1915 in Pandharpur, India. His six-decade career began in the late 1940s when he joined the Progressive Artists' Group founded by Francis Newton Souza. These group of young artists aimed to disengage from the idyllic nationalist traditions of the Bengal school of art to imbue in their works a more avant-garde approach.
The painter has also had his share of controversies – some of his works were considered anti-Hindu – which strengthened his decision to go on a self-imposed exile in 2006. He accepted the offer of a Qatar citizenship in January 2010.In 1996, he came under much flak for nude depictions of Hindu deities painted in the 1970s. He also got death threats from Hindu groups.His paintings on goddesses Durga and Saraswati invited the wrath of Hindu groups which attacked his house in 1998 and vandalised his art works.
In February 2006, Husain was charged with hurting sentiments of people because of his nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses.In the wake of legal challenges and death threats in his home country, Husain had been living abroad in self-imposed exile since 2006 and was offered Qatari citizenship in January 2010, which he accepted.Husain never returned to India nor responded to summons of a Haridwar district court. His properties in India were therefore attached. There was also a bailable warrant against him. A recipient of the Padma Vibhushan in 1991, Husain had said he was keen to return to India, but his wish remained unfulfilled.
Husain's main grouse -- and this was also of the entire artist community in India -- was that the government made no attempts to bring him back. Three of Husain's paintings recently topped a Bonham's auction here, going under the hammer for Rs 2.32 crore with an untitled oil work in which the legendary artist combined his iconic subject matters -- horse and woman -- fetching Rs 1.23 crore alone.