Doha opens the First Museum dedicated to M.F. Husain
The Lawh Wa Qalam: M.F. Husain Museum opened in Doha, within the Qatar Foundation's campus in Education City, a 12-square-kilometre urban environment designed for mixed-use that integrates education, research, recreation and cultural heritage.
Against this backdrop, the architecture of the world's first museum completely dedicated to the figure of Maqbool Fida Husain (1915 - 2011), one of South Asia's most influential modern artists, is clearly visible. This recognition is not only of symbolic significance but an important manifestation of the cultural and strategic connection between Qatar and India and can indeed be interpreted as part of a broader strategy of 'attracting' the Global South to Doha.
The museum brings together the entire span of the Indian artist's production: paintings, films, photographs, tapestries, poems, installations - a corpus that spans from the 1950s until his death in 2011. Also central is the presence of works produced after his move to Doha, including a series dedicated to Arab civilisation, commissioned by the Qatar Foundation and members of the royal family, testifying to the deep bond between the artist and the country that welcomed him in his later years.
"Husain first visited Qatar in 1984,' says Noof Mohammed, curator of the Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum and project manager of the Qatar Foundation's art portfolio, 'and exhibited together with the Qatari artist Yousef Ahmad. His visit in 2007 on the occasion of the inauguration of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha marked the beginning of deep cultural ties with the country. Several of his commissioned works were exhibited, including 'Cross-Cultural Dialogue' and 'The Last Supper in Red Desert'. This not only introduced Husain's art to the Qatari public, but also laid the foundation for his lasting relationship with the nation. His stay in the country was characterised by prolific creativity, as he produced an important series of works commissioned by Qatari cultural institutions'.
M.F. Husain (born 1915 in Pandharpur) went from painting film posters to becoming India's most famous modern artist. Self-taught, he moved to Bombay in the 1930s, where he worked for Bollywood and as a designer. In 1947 he won an award at the Bombay Art Society and joined the Progressive Artists Group. His works, inspired by mythology, history and socio-political themes, reflected the complexity of post-colonial India. An eclectic artist, he also devoted himself to poetry, architecture and film, winning the Golden Bear for 'Through the Eyes of a Painter' in 1967 and participating in prestigious international biennials, including the Venice Biennale, Italy (1952); the Tokyo Biennale, Japan (1960); the São Paulo Biennale, Brazil (1971).
In 2025, M.F. Husain dominated the Indian art scene and became the absolute protagonist of a booming market. With a turnover to date of € 36.5 million, he is ranked 20th in the artprice world ranking of the 100 best-selling artists at auction. Its market is 50% in India and paintings account for 98% of sales.
In March this year, the sale of 'Untitled (Gram Yatra)' - a 1954 masterpiece - marked an epoch-making moment: sold at Christie's for 118.7 crore (approx. USD 13.75 million), the painting shattered all previous records, consecrating Husain as the most expensive Indian artist ever.
Main Image: Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum