Maqbool Fida Hussain alias M F Hussain, the most gifted painter as well as most disputed artist of now is described as `Picasso of India` by Forbes magazine. He is famous for his paintings on Indian women and is also an illustrious name in drawing nude Hindu Gods and Goddesses. His colorful life and the vibrant career, which is spanned over several decades, fetched him both fame and opprobrium. This multifaceted genius has many other significant contribution as a film director , photographer, poet and member of the Indian Parliament.

M F Hussain was born in Pandharpur, Madhya Pradesh on September 17,1915.His mother Zunaib died when he was only a three years boy. His father Fida remarried and the family moved to Indore where Hussain got his primary education. His association with painting began at this early age as he learned the art of calligraphy and practiced the Kulfic Khat with the geometric forms.

His early education was perfunctory but Husain`s love of drawing was evident even at this stage. Whenever he got a chance he would strap his painting gear to his bicycle and drive out to the surrounding countryside of Indore to paint the landscape. He also learned to write poetry while staying with an uncle in a madrasa in Baroda. In 1935 at 20 years of age he moved to Mumbai with a determination to become an artist and was admitted to J.J.School of Arts for one year.

In 1937 Hussain started his career of painting huge cinema hoardings as an apprentice painter to earn his livelihood. He also tried his luck in other jobs and the highest-salaried job was at a toy factory where he designed and built fretwork toys. As his earnings got better he started moving into many places of Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to draw the landscapes. M F Hussain got married to Fazila in the year 1941 and they had two daughters and three sons.

Hussain landed his entry in the sphere of Indian Art when his painting `Sunhera Sansaar` won an award in the Annual Exhibition of Bombay Art Society in 1947. In 1946, Francis Newton Souzah invited Hussain to join Bombay Progressive Artists Group, a group formed to search a new dialect for Indian art. At this time he was exposed to the works of Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka and it was their influence that led Hussain to paint the remarkable `Re Between The Spider And The Lamp`, `Zameen and Man` etc. The turning point of his career came when he visited Delhi and was encountered to ancient Mathura sculpture and Indian miniature paintings, which help him to assimilate the ideas from oriental and occidental arts.

M F Hussain became publicly popular through his series of paintings shown in different exhibitions in between 1948 to 1950. His first solo exhibition was conducted in Mumbai in1952. In 1954, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi nominated M F Hussain as an eminent artist. The following year he won the national award at the Lalit Kala Akademi`s first national exhibition.

Hussain has conducted numerous international exhibitions which include Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1982; Six Indian Painters, Tate Gallery, London 1985; Modern Indian Painting, Hirschhom Museum, Washington 1986 and Contemporary Indian Art, Grey Art Gallery, New York 1986. Along with several solo exhibitions he had major retrospectives in Zurich (Galerie Palette) and Prague (Manes) in 1956, Frankfurt (Kunst-Kabinet) and Rome (1960), Tokyo (1961), Mumbai (1969), Calcutta (1973) and Delhi (1978). Hussain`s work was also exhibited at the Salon de Mai in Paris (1951), the Venice biennales (1953, 1955), Sao Paulo Biennal in 1959 and 1971.

In 1959 in Tokyo Biennale M F Hussain won the International Biennale Award. He was invited to exhibit alongside Pablo Picasso in Sao Paulo Biennal in 1971. His work was first shown in the USA at India House, New York, in 1964. The exhibitions of Hussains photography were arranged in Hannover in 1984,where he exhibited works on plexiglass. M.F.Hussain is also well known for his film making. He made a film `Through the Eyes of a Painter` in 1967, which fetched Golden Bear Award for India in Berlin Film Festival. After that Hussain has made several short films. He also made `Gaja Gamini` with Madhuri Dixit and `Meenaxi: A tale of Three Cities` with Tabu.

In the span of several years of his career, Hussain has chosen different subjects of different aspects like British Raj on major cities such as Calcutta, Benares, Rome, Beijing; on the Epics- Mahabharata and Ramayana; a whole series on Mother Teresa, on the major nine religions of the world and a series on horses. He has made a big mural of 40 feet high named as `Portrait of the Twentieth Century`, which depicts all the major personalities of arts, science, dance, literature and politics. In 90`s Hussain painted an interesting series on cine artist Madhuri Dixit. M F Hussain became talk of the town due to his open fascination on Madhuri Dixit.

Hussain got several recognition from Indian Government for his immense contribution to the Indian art with the highest prestigious civilian awards like Padmashree in 1966, Padma Bhushan in 1973 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1989. He was nominated to the upper house of Rajya Sabha, the Indian Parliament in 1987 and during his six-year term he produced the Sansad Portfolio.

This self-taught artist has defined and redefined the image of woman through his work. M F Hussain has become living-legend as the highest paid Indian artist ever. His fame rose up to the international level and a single painting of him could be sold at two million dollars.

Hussain now lives and works at Mumbai and have studios in many cities of India. This ninety-two years old celebrity artist still remain the central figure in Indian art scene.