Qatar to open museum dedicated to Indian Modernist M.F. Husain

DOHA, Qatar (MNTV) — Qatar will inaugurate a new museum in late November devoted to the works of Indian Modernist painter M.F. Husain, one of South Asia’s most celebrated yet controversial artists.

The Lawh Wa Qalam: M.F. Husain Museum, located in Doha’s Education City and overseen by the Qatar Foundation, will feature Husain’s paintings, films, tapestries, photography, poetry, and large-scale installations, including his final commissioned work Seeroo fi al ardh (Walking in the Earth). 

The museum’s design is based on a sketch by Husain, envisioned as a striking blue structure with Arabic letter-like apertures and a minaret-style column.

Husain rose to prominence in the 1950s as part of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, producing vibrant works that drew on Indian life, mythology, and folklore. 

Born in 1915, he became a cultural icon, but his depictions of Hindu deities in the nude led to protests and legal challenges in the 1990s and 2000s. 

Facing accusations of obscenity, he entered self-imposed exile, first in the UAE—where he lived in Dubai—before relocating to Qatar, which granted him citizenship in 2010.

The Qatari royal family, particularly Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, provided significant support during his years in the Gulf. She commissioned Seeroo fi al ardh in 2009, a monumental installation completed posthumously in 2019, and collected many of his works. Husain died in London in 2011 at the age of 95.

The museum’s opening coincides with rising international interest in Husain’s art. Earlier this year, a rediscovered 1954 mural sold at Christie’s in New York for $13.8 million, setting a new record for Indian art.