Picture a young man on a ladder in Bombay. He is painting a giant film star’s face on a cinema billboard. The pay is a few annas for each square foot.
That man was M.F. Husain. He later became one of India’s best-known modern painters. This lesson follows his path from hoardings to honours, then to exile. It shows how an artist can be loved and contested in one life.
Cinema hoarding: a huge hand-painted film poster put up outside a cinema. A painter copied scenes and star faces onto vast canvases. It was paid work for artists who had no gallery yet. Husain did this in Bombay before he became a fine artist.
Progressive Artists’ Group: a group of Bombay painters formed in 1947. They wanted a new artistic language for independent India. Think of a club of young artists with one shared goal. Husain was a founding member.
Expressionism: a style that bends shapes to show feeling. A face may be stretched or a body twisted to show strong emotion. It is not about copying reality. Husain’s early work shows this kind of distortion.
Exile: living outside your country because you cannot safely live inside it. A person may leave after threats or pressure. Exile can be chosen, but it is rarely free. Husain lived this way from 2006.
How Did a Hoarding Painter Begin?
Where did Husain start out?
Maqbool Fida Husain was born on 17 September 1915 in Pandharpur. His mother died when he was a baby. His father remarried and moved to Indore, where Husain went to school.
He had only one year of formal art training, at the Indore School of Art. In the late 1930s he moved to Bombay. There he painted scenery for film sets.
Then he turned to cinema hoardings. He copied film scenes from memory onto very large canvases. In his own words, the pay was barely four or six annas per square foot.
Sources: TIFR Bombay guide: early years · Sotheby’s catalogue note: Bombay years.
Check 1
In 1941 Husain gave up hoarding work for a monthly salary at a furniture company.
Why did toys matter to his art?
At the furniture company he designed and made colourful wooden toys. He left the firm by 1947 to work as a full-time artist.
His later paintings show a love for those toys. The Sotheby’s note says the colours were bold and contrasted, and the figures were doll-like.
So a day job became an early lesson in bold colour and simple form.
Sources: Sotheby’s catalogue note: the toy years · TIFR Bombay guide: other jobs.
What Was the Progressive Artists’ Group?
Why did Husain join the Group?
1947 was a busy year for him. His painting Sunehra Sansar was shown at the Bombay Art Society, in what the TIFR guide calls his first exhibition. That same year he became a founding member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, formed at the urging of F.N. Souza.
The Group aimed to build a distinct artistic voice for independent India. After Partition, Husain chose to stay in India.
Through the Group, he met the work of Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka. Both German-speaking Expressionists strongly influenced him.
Sources: Indian Express explainer: Husain and the Group · TIFR Bombay guide: the Group years.
Check 2
Husain became a founding member of the Progressive Artists’ Group in 1947.
How did his early style show?
From 1948 to 1950, exhibitions across India brought his work to the public. In 1951 his painting Mendhi won the silver medal at the Bombay Art Society.
The Sotheby’s note describes a strong suggestion of Expressionist distortion. It calls this a hallmark of his later work.
The same year he travelled to China. In 1952 he held his first solo show, in Zurich.
Sources: Sotheby’s catalogue note: Mendhi · TIFR Bombay guide: first solo show.
How Did Honours and Fame Grow?
Which honours did he win?
Honours came steadily across five decades. Here is the order to remember.
- 1966: Padma Shri.
- 1967: his first film, Through the Eyes of a Painter, won a Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival.
- 1971: invited to the São Paulo Biennial.
- 1973: Padma Bhushan.
- 1986: nominated to the Rajya Sabha. His term ran from May 1986 to May 1992.
- 1991: Padma Vibhushan.
One detail is easy to miss. Resentment from Hindu nationalist groups grew between 1990 and 2006. So the 1991 honour came as the controversy was starting, not long before it.
Sources: TIFR Bombay guide: honours and the film · AIC Contemporary essay: honours and resentment.
Check 3
Husain received the Padma Bhushan before the Padma Shri.
What were his well-known series?
His Sufi paintings were first shown at the Pundole Gallery in 1978. In the 1980s he grew into a public figure and a press favourite.
In the Rajya Sabha years he produced the Sansad Portfolio. In the early 1990s a series was named after the film star Madhuri Dixit.
Indian Express adds that the 1970s saw a series on the Mahabharata, shown at the São Paulo Biennial.
Sources: TIFR Bombay guide: series by decade · Indian Express explainer: Mahabharata series.
| Stage | What he did | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Hoarding painter | Painted film scenes on huge canvases | Late 1930s to 1941 |
| Group founder | Joined the Progressive Artists’ Group | 1947 |
| Honoured artist | Padma Shri, Bhushan, Vibhushan | 1966 to 1991 |
| Exile | Left India after threats; later took Qatari citizenship | 2006 to 2011 |
Why Was He Known for Going Barefoot?
What do the sources record about it?
Husain became a photogenic icon in the 1980s. The TIFR guide notes that a Calcutta club turned away a barefoot Husain for breaking its dress code.
The Indian Express says he also loved fast cars like Ferraris, yet at other times he walked barefoot.
So the habit was part of his public image. The sources we checked do not give one single origin story, so avoid repeating one as fact.
Sources: TIFR Bombay guide: the barefoot icon · Indian Express explainer: cars and bare feet.
Why Did He Leave India?
What forced him out?
In 2006 death threats came from right-wing Hindu activists. They were angry about his paintings of Hindu goddesses. Time reports this forced him into exile.
After that he shuttled between London and Dubai, still painting. In 2010, at age 95, he accepted citizenship of Qatar.
He died in London on 9 June 2011.
Sources: Time (2011): exile and threats · Indian Express explainer: Qatari citizenship · Indian Express explainer: Qatari citizenship.
Check 4
Husain went into exile in 2006 and later accepted Qatari citizenship.
How is he remembered?
Time called him India’s most cherished artist in 2011, yet noted he could not live in his own country. It also called him India’s richest painter.
Forbes is quoted as calling him the “Picasso of India”. The President’s office holds his portrait of former President Zakir Husain at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
His life shows how praise and anger can meet around one artist.
Sources: Time (2011): most cherished artist · Rashtrapati Bhavan art catalogue: the portrait.
What should you remember for exams?
Keep these points ready.
- Born: 1915, Pandharpur. Started with cinema hoardings.
- Group: founding member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, 1947.
- Honours: Padma Shri 1966, Bhushan 1973, Vibhushan 1991.
- Film: Golden Bear, Berlin, for his first film.
- End: exile 2006, Qatari citizenship 2010, died London 2011.
Sources: TIFR Bombay guide: key facts · AIC Contemporary essay: key facts.
MCQ on M.F. Husain: From Cinema Hoardings to Modern Master
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