Photo by artstander, courtesy flickr

Maqbool Fida Husain

Maqbool Fida Husain Tyeb Mehta Subodh Gupta Hindu Groups Threaten Indian Artist India Art Summit Bans Artist for Second Year Asia Week As Western Economy Heads South, South Asian Art Market Looks East Controversial Paintings of Deities Censored in Mumbai

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The removal of the movie, Through the Eyes of a Painter, was requested by the Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Jananagruti movements, which claimed that showing Husain's work is inappropriate, according to Agence France-Presse. Digamber Kamat, chief minister of the resort state of Goa, where the festival is held, reportedly asked organizers to defer the screening "as it might create law and order problems."

Husain, 93, is one of India's best-known artists, but has been living in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai for two years after right-wing Hindus, angered by his paintings of nude Hindu goddesses, sued him, attacked galleries where his work was shown, and issued death threats.

In September, the Supreme Court of India dismissed the obscenity cases brought against Husain, prompting the artist to tell the Times of India that he would return home. Earlier this month, however, he told the New York Times that he will remain in Dubai for the foreseeable future because of the government's failure to provide him adequate protection.