Husain was admitted in the Royal Brompton Hospital for several days and died around 2.30 am this morning.
A recipient of Padma Vibhushan in 1991, Husain was in indifferent health for the last month and a half.
M F Husain, described by the Forbes magazine as the 'Picasso of India', was born on September 17, 1915 in Pandharpur, India.
His six-decade career began in the late 1940s when he joined the Progressive Artists' Group founded by Francis Newton Souza. These group of young artists aimed to disengage from the idyllic nationalist traditions of the Bengal school of art to imbue in their works a more avant-garde approach.
The painter has also had his share of controversies – some of his works were considered anti-Hindu – which strengthened his decision to go on a self-imposed exile in 2006. He accepted the offer of a Qatar citizenship in January 2010.
In 1996, he came under much flak for nude depictions of Hindu deities painted in the 1970s. He also got death threats from Hindu groups.
Husain never returned to India nor responded to summons of a Haridwar district court. His properties in India were therefore attached. There was also a bailable warrant against him.
Husain's main grouse remained -- and this was also of the entire artist community in India -- that the government made no attempts to bring him back.
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