Doha, Qatar. Within a few days of him accepting the Qatari citizenship, noted painter Maqbool Fida Husain is facing a fresh controversy. One of his lesser known paintings, The Nude Dude, has been deemed to depict an Arab Sheikh in a nude posture. Although Husain denies it, various Arab groups have accused the former Indian painter of deliberately insulting the Arabic culture in general and Sheikhdom in particular.
“This is unacceptable. We condemn it in the strongest possible manner. Nudity is not a part of our culture and no one has ever seen a nude sheikh. In fact, you would even struggle to find images of a nude sheikh if you Google for it. We have no idea what made Mr. Husain paint such stuff.” a group calling itself Awesome Arabs Association (AAA) protested.
The concerned painting is a derivative form of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous drawing The Vitruvian Man, except that the man in the painting is wearing a Keffiyeh (Arabic scarf or headdress) on his head.
M F Husain, who is not new to controversies surrounding nudity and walks bare foot, has thoroughly denied that The Nude Dude was any attempt to hurt the Arabs or the Sheikhs.
“There is no nudity in the picture. One has to see things in perspective. I have tried to send out a message that the Western world and the Arab world could co-exist, and in fact, they look beautiful together. People should concentrate on the message, and not fret over the medium.” M F Husain defended his painting.
He further informed that the name The Nude Dude was not of his choosing, and the name was invented by media after the painting was put on exhibition by some unknown groups.
But the explanation by Husain has failed to pacify the likes of AAA activists, who have threatened to file hundreds of legal cases against him as was done by some Indian groups. In fact, more trouble could be coming the way of Husain as a few people have interpreted the painting to be critical of an Arab Sheikh, even if the nudity part was ignored.
“The Vitruvian Man is also known as Proportions of Man, and now we see a Sheikh over there. I think Mr. Husain is sending out a signal to the Arab Sheikhs to have some sense of proportion in their lavish ways.” said a pro-democracy activist on conditions of anonymity.
No official response has yet been received from the office of Emir of Qatar over this controversy, but legal experts inform us that if His Highness took offence to the latest paintings, M F Husain could be jailed for up to fifteen years in some Qatari jail without having the right to appeal.
“One has all the freedom here, but Emirs and Sheikhs must not be insulted. But I’m hopeful for Husain. Qatar is the most progressive Arab state.” said E G Baby, an Indian expatriate working in Doha.
The now controversial painting by M F Husain was painted by him at least seven years back, but has come to haunt him after he accepted the Qatari citizenship
Possibly Related News:
- Controversy erupts over India’s first gay cartoon character
- Chudails and Aliens feeling left out of the IPL controversy
- China jails painter for not using enough red color in paintings
- Controversy over Narendra Modi’s refusal to wear birthday cap and hold balloons
- Hindu & Muslim kids clash in Miraj over poster of Tom & Jerry
“no one has ever seen a nude sheikh”
LOL … a nude sheikh looks like a nube taxi cab driver, or a nude baker, or a nude dentist. Hey, just look in the mirror and you’ll see what a nude sheikh looks like. He looks like any other man in the nude.
Did you expect that he might have golden genitals or little angel wings on hid bum? LOL.
These sheikh are suppose to possess a lot of oil
ha ha h.. very funny, Raja.
Technically speaking he has a head dress on
so ‘Not a real Nude Dude’.
Happy to see this because we were in a wild run for such a hot piece to unveil who is M.F.Hussain to the globe. Go through scrollindia and you will get a big picture
Don’t his multiple wives in the harem see him in nude all the times else how would they make green babies …
But then again maybe they don’t as everything is so damn dark in mullahdum.
1.
Representing India as a woman being raped, is nothing but terrible denigration. For an Indian, ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India) is a Goddess and not some figurative concept and showcasing her in this manner is highly outrageous and a completely unacceptable form of denigration.
2.
It would be appropriate to ask MF Husain if he would have dared to make a similar painting had there been an attack on the UK, the UAE or Qatar and named it the ‘Rape of UK, UAE or Qatar’ ? (Husain has recently become a citizen of Qatar)
3.
What is MF Husain’s sick fascination for having sex with animals ? Why does he repeatedly superimpose his dirty minded eroticism on Deities ?
4.
Why has he split the canvas in half ? Does he want to suggest that India will spilt ? Why this divisive implication that India will crumble under attack ?
5.
Why has he painted the blood that has been spilt in the colour green ? And also the two bulls with green faces. The offenders of the cowardly terrorist attacks that India is facing, are the people who are symbolized by the colour green, and not the other way around. Does he expect the Islamisation of India ?
6.
India has been wounded by innumerable terrorist attacks. Instead of expressing her pain, MF Husain has humiliated her and has added insult to her injury by showing her being raped and that too with the perverted suggestion of an animal straddling her and of a man pulling at her blouse and staring at her breast.
7.
If MF Husain is truly an artist (as claimed by the artist community) and that all his thoughts about being outraged by terrorism were genuine, then why does he not paint others being nude and having sex with animals ? But as we have observed he depicts only India and Hindus in this manner.
8.
Thus, for these reasons this painting is unacceptable to an Indian and it hurts and rapes our sensibilities.
@HP fuck off u moron…
bharat mata is just a imaginative creation by man as are all gods in world…also most of ur points are laugahble..how u infer these things from nowhere…u r psycho case..that’s it…i m not a fan of M F hussain and his paintings and thoughts…but wat is wrong in painting nude something that doesn’t exist. It is true that Mr. Hussain is a hypocrite..that he will not dare to paint anything like that related to islam and quran…but don’t try to become one of those religious fundamentalists…care for real things…not about a person painting nude or cartoons of a man blindlessly believed as sacred..these are myths..evils myths..The church, the mullas, the sadhus , the evil scruptures..they r gud for nothing…
well,
@saga, whoever you are, your language itself tells us that you are not worthy of any respect. Well, if you do not understand the country you live in and the sentiments of the people who are a part of it, then to hell with you and your so called ‘broad and just’ opinions.
@HP I am with you, though i ain’t a Hindu, but i possess in me the heart of an Indian!
1. He had a message there which you totally misssed. The interpretations only shows your sense of understanding art, which is very poor FYI.
2. He was way more attached to India. Paintings originate from deep within your soul and he obviously did not care about UK,US or whatever.
3.Sex with animals is dirty to you, because you have been brought up in a closed-thinking environment. One logical reason as to why you think it is dirty? It shows union of a person with nature in the most intimate way. It does not mean an animal and human are trying to have a family out there.
4. There is no limit to the extent of negative interpretation we can make out of things. Why is your name HP? Hypersensitive pedophile?
5.Same as point4.
6. India has not only been wounded, India has also been insulted. He showed the injury and humiliation part of it instead of just sympathy which people would prefer. Artists paint what they think and like, not what you would want to look at. If you are so bothered dont go to his art galleries and live in your small life.
7. No other culture has so much of mythological history like we do. And hence the exclusivity.
Thus for the above reasons, close minded people like you have always been there in history who have insulted, degraded the work of great geniuses. Your IQ is probably 1/10th of Hussain’s IQ. So shut it and let it be.
great thought. you may be right that iq is 1/10 then we suggest you that you should have told mf to paint some articles on your family members like father mother and sister then
only we would have come to know your iq
Hmmm… So it’s OK to literally rape mother earth but not figuratively? It’s is my observation that we humans take too much from the earth…
yehhhh thoooooo honaaaaaa hi thaaaaaaaa…..
HUSSAIN IS A DIRTY MIND AND A VERY DARPOK (WITH MULLAS) MAN.
HE SHOULD FIRST MADE THE NUDE PAINTINGS OF ALL HIS FAMILY ME MBERS INCLUDING HIMSELF . HE SHOULD BE HANGED IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE HE IS A SOCIAL VIROUS .
What a pathetic english. Cant even understand.
how come you expect to understand pradips language
when you do not have sense to understand mf s non
sense paintings. shame.
Artists have courted controversy for years now. We’re talking about a fairly unexceptional artist, using fairly cheap methods to get noticed. It has worked. But it is a risky strategy.
15 years, with no right to appeal? I would think about relocating, pretty sharp-ish!
he is a dirty mind fellow. he want popularity whether it is by good way or bad way
he is like the today heroine who expose only for popularity.
Islam is not difficult to understand it has very perfect meaning and is very
straight.
It is very difficult to digest that mf was muslim.
How a person being muslim call his nude paintig a art. shame.
when mf was drgged from india it was great qatar to give mf shelter but
regret he was what inside one can understand after seeing nude picture
of sheikh. pity.