Nikita Yadav
BBC News, Delhi
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MF Husain’s paintings have often sparked controversy due to their depiction of Hindu gods.
A court in the Indian capital Delhi has ordered the seizure of two “offensive” paintings by MF Husain, one of India’s most famous artists.
The court on Monday allowed police to seize the artworks after a complaint was filed alleging that the paintings, displayed in an art gallery and depicting two Hindu deities, “hurt religious sentiments.”
Husain, who died in 2011 at the age of 95, often faced backlash over depictions of nude Hindu gods in his paintings.
The Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which organized the exhibition, said in a statement that it “is not a party to the legal proceedings and is seeking legal advice”.
The paintings were part of an exhibition titled Husain: The Timeless Modernist, showcasing more than 100 works at DAG from October 26 to December 14.
The complainant, Amita Sachdeva, a lawyer, said on days later.
On December 10, Ms. Sachdeva said she went to the gallery with the investigator, only to discover that the paintings had been removed. She said gallery officials claimed they never exhibited the paintings.
The BBC has contacted DAG for comment.
The paintings Ms Sachdeva shared online depicted the Hindu gods Ganesha and Hanuman alongside nude female figures. She also alleged that the Delhi Police did not file a report.
She then asked the court to preserve the gallery’s CCTV footage for the period the paintings were allegedly on display, according to media reports.
On Monday, a judge at Delhi’s Patiala House court said the police had accessed the footage and submitted their report. According to the investigation, the exhibition took place in a private space and had the sole purpose of presenting the artist’s original work, the judge added.
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Husain was often called the “Picasso of India”
The art gallery said in a statement that it was “reviewing the situation” and “trying to monitor developments.”
Maqbool Fida Husain was one of India’s greatest painters and was nicknamed “India’s Picasso”, but his art often sparked controversy in the country. His works have sold for millions of dollars.
His career was marked by controversy when he was accused of obscenity and denounced by hardline Hindus for a painting depicting a nude goddess.
In 2006, Husain publicly apologized for his painting, Mother India. It depicted a naked woman kneeling on the ground creating the shape of the Indian map. He left the country the same year and went into voluntary exile in London until his death.
In 2008, the Indian Supreme Court declined to bring criminal charges against Husain, saying his paintings were not obscene and that nudity was common in Indian iconography and history.
The court had then rejected an appeal against a High Court ruling quashing criminal proceedings against Husain in the cities of Bhopal, Indore and Rajkot, condemning the rise of a “new puritanism” in India.
The court also rejected requests that Husain, then in exile, be summoned and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of insulting religious sentiments and disturbing national integrity.
“There are so many such topics, photographs and posts. Are you going to file a case against all of them? What about the temple structures? Husain’s work is art. If you don’t want to see it, don’t see it There are so many of these art forms in temple structures,” the top court said.
Many believe that there is a growing wave of illiberalism against artistic expression in India.
In October, the Bombay High Court reprimanded the customs department for seizing artworks by renowned artists FN Souza and Akbar Padamsee on the grounds that they were “obscene material”.
The court ruled that not all nude or sexually explicit paintings are considered obscene and ordered the release of seven seized works of art.
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