MF Husain: Man and myth, art and artist

M F Husain is undoubtedly India's best known and perhaps most highly regarded modern artist. As an editorial in this newspaper put it last week, he is "arguably the most inventive artist of Indian modernism". This is why it's not just sad but upsetting that an MF Husain museum will open next month in Doha and not in the country of his birth.

- Karan Thapar

The truth is Husain was hounded out of India and lived his last years in exile in Doha and London. Hindu critics of his paintings made it impossible for him to live in this country.

Husain Sahab, as I called him when I interviewed him in 2000, was an extraordinary man. We should have been proud to own him. Indeed, to boast of him. Not turn our back and pretend we've forgotten him. Again, as this paper put it, "India let go of Husain, though his works are with private collectors and galleries in India, who are diffident about celebrating his brilliance and versatility for political reasons."

Those who recognise good art need no introduction to Husain Sahab. Let me, instead, tell you about his character and the life he led. It's the stuff fables are made of. For a start, Husain Sahab created his own birthday. He wasn't exactly sure when he was born. Not just the date but even the year. So when he needed to apply for a passport he made it up. As he told me, he'd just seen the film,