M.F.HUSAIN (b.1915 - 2011 ) was born in 1915 at Pandharpur, Maharashtra, the multi-talented artist, poet and film-maker began his career painting cinema hoardings, soon after he moved to Bombay in 1936. Initially he worked for a nursery furniture shop called Fantasy, where he produced designs for furniture. It was in 1947 that he exhibited for the first time with the Progressive Artists Group, of which he was a founder member, along with F. N.Souza, SH Raza, KH Ara and S. M. Bakre. From then on Husain began to exhibit widely in India and abroad. His work was shown at the Salon de Mai Paris 1951; Venice Biennale 1953, 1955; Sao Paolo Biennale 1959,1967,1971; Royal Academy London 1982, Grey Gallery New York 1985; Cairo Egypt 1991; London 1996. Husain lives and works in Mumbai. . M. F. Husain was born in 1915 in Pandharpur Village in Maharashtra. A self taught artist, he moved to Mumbai in 1937 to pursue his dream on becoming an artist. On his arrived, he apprenticed himself to a painter of cinema hoarding and this marks the humble beginning of the artistic career of one of the most respected contemporary Indian painters. In 1950 he held his first solo show at the Bombay Art Society in Mumbai. Since then he has held numerous solo shows and group exhibitions not only in India but internationally as well. By 1955 he was one of the leading artists in India and was awarded the Padma Shri. This was followed by the Padma Bhushan in 1973, the Padma Vibhushan in 1989 and he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. In 1967 he won the Golden Bear at the International Film Festival at Berlin for his documentary Through the Eyes of a Painter and has made several short films since them. Husain has studios in several cities in India but lives mainly in Mumbai. He died 9 June 2011