FROM HIS REVERENCE FOR GANDHI TO HIS LOVE OF DANCE, A BOOK BY DAG OFFERS NEW WAYS TO KNOW MF HUSAIN.

If there was ever an Indian artist who earned immense fame and yet remained unknowable, it is MF Husain.

- NEERJA DEODHAR

Courter of controversy, painter of the risqué-those who don't look beyond labels, or choose not to, fail to see his chequered personality. For those who are curious, there's much to be savoured, from stories of Husain painting during a live performance of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, to memories of him dancing away to dandiya music.

Husain: The Timeless Modernist, a new book by DAG published alongside an exhibition of the same name, takes a curious, earnest gaze towards the nuances of his work, as well as the man he was the Maqbool who made art in his friends' homes, arriving late but never overstaying his welcome. But how did he view himself? "Self-portraits and works that included references to his own art reflect his enjoyment of being noticed.... These actions reveal a man who thrived on interaction and performance, embracing the limelight as part of his identity," says Ritu Vajpeyi-Mohan, senior vice president at the gallery.