A barefoot man, with pristine white hair and beard, dressed mostly in kurtas and clutching a long wooden paintbrush — always prepared to draw anything that took his fancy. This is how a lot of people likely remember the legendary Maqbool Fida Husain. Some liked to refer to the late artist, among the most expensive Indian artists globally, as the ‘Picasso of India’. 

As one of the founding members of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, the Pandharpur-born painter has been credited with modernising the art scene in the country. But over the course of his illustrious career, he gained a fair share of admirers and critics. The harsh criticism and threats he faced for nude depictions of Hindu goddesses compelled him to leave the country in 2006. He moved to Qatar and in 2010 was given citizenship there. Husain would never return to India again but arguments surrounding his exile continued for years after his demise on June 9, 2011. Mumbai, despite his many travels around the world, is known to have remained the main object of his affection.