MF Husain was forced into exile; now his work finds permanent home in Qatar

"In the 1930s, a young Maqbool Fida Husain, barely in his 20s, arrived in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, then known as Bombay, from Indore city 600km (370 miles) away. His dream was to make films. But struggling to survive in the city, he started painting billboards for the emerging Bollywood film industry. list of 4 itemsend of list A decade later, as newly independent India was finding its footing, Husain became a part of a group of artists who laid the foundations of modern art in the country."

"But despite the global renown and the numerous awards internationally and at home in India Husain found himself the target of a concerted hate campaign by a rising Hindu majoritarian movement starting in the 1990s, forcing him to flee. Now, nearly two decades after he went into exile, and 14 years after he died in London, Husain's iconic works have found a permanent home in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which in 2010 offered the artist citizenship."

Maqbool Fida Husain arrived in Mumbai in the 1930s from Indore and initially painted billboards while pursuing a dream of filmmaking. A decade later he joined a group of artists who helped found modern art in newly independent India and rose to international prominence, often called India's Picasso. Beginning in the 1990s a rising Hindu majoritarian movement mounted a hate campaign that forced him into exile. He died in London 14 years ago. Qatar offered him citizenship in 2010, and Doha has now opened the Lawh Wa Qalam museum showcasing his final commissioned works and other pieces.

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