Google doodle on modernist painter MF Husain

NEW DELHI: On his 100th birth anniversary MF Husain, one of the best known painters in modern and contemporary India, has been honoured with a Google Doodle.

The late painter, who died at the age of 95 on June 9, 2011 has been pictured in the doodle with a paintbrush in hand flanked by colourful circles suggestive of the search engine Google's logo.

Born Maqbool Fida Husain in Pandharpur, in Maharashtra he exhibited mastery over techniques of line and colour and over a career that spanned decades turned out a prolific amount of artworks.

He was particularly fond of creating large sized canvases and he had begun his career in his 20s as a painter of cinema hoardings.

Renowned mainly for his Cubist paintings, the barefoot artist was also known for his drawings and his work as a printmaker, photographer and he even made toys and furniture for children. He sported a fetish for sports cars and images of horses recurred in his paintings.

As a filmmaker he made " Gaja Gamini" (2000) with Madhuri Dixit in 2000 and "Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities" (2004) with Tabu. He won a Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1967 for "Through the Eyes of a Painter".

Husain was invited by the artist F N Souza to be part of the Progressive Art Movement in the year 1947 and over the decades showcased his works in solo and group shows in India and at various international venues.

In 1971 he was invited to showcase his art alongside works by Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paolo Biennale.

Husain's blend of modernism with Indian iconography was unique and his paintings fetched records at auctions.

He was honoured with a Padma Shri (1955), Padma Bhushan (1973) and Padma Vibhushan (1991).