LONDON.- Aicon Gallery London will present From the Vault: Highlights from the Herwitz &Aicon Gallery Collection. Works by Anjolie Ela Menon, M F Husain, F N Souza, K Laxma Goud and Sadequain, on view through September 2, 2007. In 2002 a substantial part of the renowned Herwitz Collection, acknowledged as the finest private collection of post-independence Indian Art in the world, was acquired by Aicon Gallery. From the Vault brings together works from both the Herwitz Collection and the Aicon Gallery Collection. Featuring five exceptional artists - modern masters M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza, established contemporary artists K Laxma Goud and Anjolie Ela Menon, and the celebrated calligrapher and painter, Sadequain - the exhibition will provide unique highlights of work by this rare cluster of artists.

Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain were amongst the first avant-garde artists from India to achieve widespread recognition in the West. Described as the ‘Picasso of India’, M. F. Husain is today India’s most renowned and prolific contemporary artist. Husain’s work assimilates both bold and expressive brushwork derived from European modern art but also the traditional conventions of Indian art. The works on display span virtually his entire career, from the 1950s to the present. F. N. Souza’s paintings, both tender and at times brutal, often bear the influence of his Catholic background and his complex relationship with the church. Female nudes provide an erotic element to his art, whilst his liberating acts of destruction using chemical techniques could be said to epitomize Souza’s rebellious attitude to his art.

The erotic vitality of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is a theme explored in much of Laxma Goud’s work. An exceptional draughtsman, the austere and dislocated contours of his earlier works later give way to sensuous and eloquent strokes that explore elements of fantasy. Anjolie Ela Menon is considered to be one of the leading female Indian artists working today. Her paintings are distinguished by their luminous surfaces and haunting quality in which references to memory, nostalgia and loss can frequently be found. The Pakistani artist, Sadequain is considered one of the finest painters and calligraphers Pakistan has ever produced. Regarded as responsible for the renaissance of Islamic Calligraphy in Pakistan since the late 1960s, his skillful draftsmanship and imaginative visual vocabulary transformed the art into bold and uninhibited expressionistic paintings. The civic activism that was a hallmark of Sadequain’s politically charged canvases arose during his early experience of painting nationalistic slogans in Delhi on the eve of the Indian partition.

The diverse techniques and subject matter of the works assembled demonstrate the sheer scale, variety and vibrancy of contemporary Indian art that in recent years has come to prominence on the world stage.