Lightning: From the Private Collection of Marguerite and Kent Charugundla

Lightning' was created in 1975, during a very controversial period in India?s history, to be the backdrop of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi?s Emergency speech. Given the short time frame that M.F. Husain had to complete the work, it was titled 'Lightning', because it came about in a flash. The masterpiece was made up of twelve massive panels with ten wild, white horses charging through an open space. 00The significance of the painting is heightened not only by its sheer size or the brilliant rendering of its subject by the artist but also the time it was executed and the ideologies it stands for. The painting included depictions of family planning, farmers and their families, and a builder with an axe in hand. The work portrayed the political climate of the time in India post-separation. 00This book was conceived in honour of Husain, and various anecdotal stories and interviews on the painting form a part of this book. The selected authors invited to write on Lightning address the painting as well as its creator from various angles. It is an attempt to create a whole story around this masterpiece; every brush stroke and every inch of the canvas has a story, secretly tucked away in the midst of the powerfully rendered horses, that is left for the beholder to decipher.00Exhibition: Asia Society Museum, New York, USA (20.03.-04.08.2019)… (more)