Lady with Veena 1979

M.F. Husain made this painting of a Lady with Veena using oil paint and canvas, and it feels so immediate, doesn't it? I'm drawn to the way Husain seems to build the image from a series of gestural marks, moving from planes of color to bold outlines. The surface is alive with texture, almost rough in places, which adds to the painting’s raw, expressive energy. It feels like you can trace the movement of the brush, the very act of painting laid bare. Look at the way the green of the bird echoes the green in the base of the Veena, this detail pulls the whole image together. Husain's paintings often have a folk-art quality and a really interesting use of color that reminds me of Matisse, but with a totally distinct cultural inflection. It’s like he’s inviting us into a conversation, a playful back-and-forth where the meaning is always shifting, always open to interpretation.