A Photographic Tribute to The Barefoot Artist M. F. Husain

Mumbai, 21st Dec: Friday, December 16th, was privy to an evening of celebration, festivities and art. The evening, besides exhibiting rare cherished pictures from Husain’s personal life, witnessed the launch of Pradeep Chandra’s coffee table book on the ‘Picasso of India’, Maqbool Fida Husain at Gallery Art & Soul, Worli in the presence of Husain’s children- Shafat, Akeela and Raisa and grand children- Anita, Manisha and Rabiaba. The event also witnessed presence of city glitterati including Nandita Das, Anil Dharker, Dolly Thakore, Pervez Damania, Dr. Batra and couple of artists. The book was inaugurated by Husain's family and Anil Dharker read a few excerpt from it.
The book, M. F. Husain – A Pictorial Tribute, features a collection of 236 photographs of the barefoot artist who passed away on June 9. Lensman Pradeep Chandra, in his book, has managed to feature every aspect of Husain’s personality captured in over three decades, besides including photographs of Husain celebrating his birthday, enjoying every minute of his life, painting faces from the silver screen and his bare feet.
Talking about the delightful discovery of Husain’s life, Mr. Chandra said, “Husain loved to be photographed, perhaps as much as I loved to photograph him. There have been many books on the artist dealing essentially with his art but in my book, 220 pages out of its 228 contain photographs of M.F. Husain and not his paintings. He had taken most of the photographs from me and he was to publish the book initially but it didn't work out. During the course, I realized that he was quite fond of looking at his own images. He was a very good actor and brilliant in front of the camera.”
It is not merely a Photographer’s Tribute as Husain’s paintings express innumerable images about his view towards life including enough anecdotes and observations which makes the book an interesting piece of art.

“It gives us immense pleasure to be hosting such a prestigious exhibition and book launch. This is not just an event showcasing the works of the Master, but rather remembering the ‘man behind the canvas’. Featuring photographs of M. F. Husain by itself is a matter of pride for our gallery,” says Ms. Tarana Khubchandani, Director, Gallery Art & Soul.
“The pictures can’t be classified into one category. They cover a large part of his life,” concludes Chandra, who had earlier brought out a book on Amitabh Bachchan titled, ‘AB: The Legend’.
Pradeep Chandra has been associated with Bombay Times, Indian Express, Illustrated Weekly & other prominent publications. He has done several exhibitions like Haveli Dreams, (based on Shekhawati), Kashmiri Pandits, and Britain (to commemorate 50 Years of Indian Independence) and has been a part of various art camps as well. He is the author of the coffee table book on Amitabh Bachchan titled “AB The Legend – A Photographer’s Tribute” and “M F Husain – A Pictorial Tribute”.
About Gallery Art & Soul: Gallery Art & Soul is a large art space in the heart of Worli, and enjoys the privilege of working with a huge cross section of artists. It is recognized by the artist community as an exciting space with uniquely conceptualized and well executed art events. This is reflected in their large database of artists and the gallery showcase of works of over 100 established artists, spanning over 8 decades. The artist relations are fostered through reputable tie ups in the domestic and international art scenarios.

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2, Ganesh Chhaya, D.N. Mhatre road, Eksar, Borivali (west) Mumbai-400092

This release was published on openPR.