Horse's Head 1970

M.F. Husain made "Horse's Head" with paint and a whole lotta energy! Look at the surface of this thing; it's almost sculptural, right? Thick impasto laid on with a knife, maybe even his fingers. I love how the white paint clumps together to form the horse's mane, each stroke a little burst of texture. Then there’s that undercurrent of red, peeking through the white, giving it this raw, almost violent feel. That swirling eye; it's like the whole painting is focused there, drawing you in. It’s not just about representation; it's about the act of making, of wrestling with the material to find the image. I think of Guston, with that same kind of rough-and-tumble directness. Art's not about perfection; it's about that messy, beautiful process.