Police in India were granted a court order yesterday to remove two artworks by the late M.F. Husain from the Delhi Art Gallery. A visitor to the Husain: The Timeless Modernist exhibition made a police complaint on 4th December last year, after being offended by depictions of the gods Ganesha and Hanuman touching nude female figures. The retrospective ran from 26th October to 14th December last year.
The works in question are the ink drawing Untitled (Ganesha) and the serigraph print Untitled (Hanuman). They have not been on display since the exhibition closed. All news reports of the police seizure have described the artworks inaccurately as paintings, and their titles have not been reported elsewhere.
Husain, who died in self-imposed exile in 2011, was India’s greatest modern artist. Hundreds of obscenity charges were filed against him in 2006 after he exhibited his painting Bharat Mata (‘mother India’), though he was exonerated by India’s Supreme Court in 2008.
Husain, who died in self-imposed exile in 2011, was India’s greatest modern artist. Hundreds of obscenity charges were filed against him in 2006 after he exhibited his painting Bharat Mata (‘mother India’), though he was exonerated by India’s Supreme Court in 2008.