395 - Maqbool Fida Husain (Indian, 1915-2011) 'Balbir Singh' signed l.r. inscribed and dated 'Dubai', '2010', blue and black ink on paper (image 31 x 44cm, 47 x 58cm including mount) Provenance: Acquired by Fida Husain, nephew of Maqbool Fida Husain, accompanied by a signed declaration of provenance; an Important Private Collection, Paris, Stanislas Machoïr, 'La Vente aux Enchères de l'Été 3', Drouot, Paris, 11 July 2024, lot 55; acquired directly from the above by the present vendor. Footnote: Maqbool Fida Husain (1915-2011) was a founding member of the Progressive Artists' Group established in Mumbai in 1947. Its members sought to combine Indian artistic traditions with the European avant-garde visual language. Husain's distinctive style, characterised by bold, direct lines and simplified forms, developed through his engagement with both Indian art and European modernism. A visit to the India Independence Exhibition in 1948, where he encountered classical Indian sculpture and Rajput and Pahari miniatures, marked an important turning point in his practice. His subsequent travels in Europe in 1953, where he encountered the work of Klee, Matisse and Picasso, further informed his visual language, while his subject matter remained deeply rooted in Indian culture and mythology. The present lot depicts a hockey scene, a figure in profile carrying a second figure on his back or shoulders, a hockey stick running across the lower half, a goal post on the left and a ball beside it. Husain has also written the name 'Balbir Singh' in Devanagari Hindi script at the upper right, identifying the subject as the renowned Indian hockey player and coach Balbir Singh (1923-2020).