Lightning

Lightning was created in 1975, during a controversial period in India’s history, to be the backdrop of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Emergency speech. Titled Lightning, because it came about in a flash, the masterpiece was made up of twelve massive panels with ten wild, white horses charging through an open space. The significance of the painting is heightened not only by its sheer size or brilliant rendering but also the by times it was executed during and the ideologies it stands for. This book was conceived in honour of Husain, and various anecdotal stories and interviews on the painting form a part of this book. It is an attempt to create a whole story around this masterpiece; every brush stroke and every inch of the canvas has a story, secretly tucked away in the midst of the powerfully rendered horses, that is left for the beholder to decipher.