M.F. Husain: Limited Edition Prints from a Private Collection in London

A self-confessed fan of the Indian actress, Madhuri Dixit fan, the legendary painter first came to be associated with Bollywood in the 90s when he claimed to have seen the Madhuri-Salman Khan starrer Hum Aapke Hain Koun 73 times! He was  so immensly enamoured by her beauty that he  decided to make his debut as a filmmaker with the film Gaja Gamini and make her a part of his larger-than-life canvas. Husain made a series of paintings depicting the actress in various moods. These are limited edition prints of a few of the paintings that he made.

In an interview dated 2004 Husain says, "When I saw Madhuri in 'Hum Aap Ke Hain Koun' I found that she was the object of my imagination. I was on the lookout for such a beauty. No one else could see what I saw in Madhuri. I decided to make a movie titled 'Gajgamini'. During my first meeting with her, I found her to be innocent and bubbly. Though I had seen these qualities on screen, I was excited to find out that these were natural in her character, so I decided to draw these qualities on canvas. To a great extent I succeeded in doing it. All her traits can be seen in my paintings."

'Ashta vinayak' translates to "Eight  (Asht) Ganeshas (Vinayaka)" in Sanskrit. Ganesha (also known as the elephant God) is the Hindu deity of unity, prosperity, learning and removing obstacles. He is usually worshiped first before any other worship service is carried out to any other deity.

Eight effigies found amongst nature and sculpted by nature have been housed in the temples created ages ago at the places where the effigies were first identified. These ‘Swayambhu’ effigies, are now the sacred idols termed as the famous “Ashta Vinayak. The Ashtavinayak yatra or pilgrimage covers the eight ancient holy temples dedicated to Lord Ganesha which are situated around Pune, Maharashtra. even though Husain was muslim, he had a lot of hindu friends and respected the Hindu culture immensly. The series he created here draws attention to these eight holy sites which Husian had himself visited during the course of his life.