(CNN) -- The artist known as the Picasso if India, Maqbool Fida Husain, died Thursday in a London hospital on Thursday. He was 95.

The celebrated but controversial artist is credited with introducing the avant garde movement to India and for influencing a whole generation of artists.

It's a huge shock to the nation, he has left a huge void in the world of Indian art," said gallery owner Arun Vadhera, who described Husain as a close friend.

Vadhera was with the a artist at the Royal Brompton hospital, where Husain died of cardiac arrest. He had been admitted to the hospital after he had trouble breathing from fluid in his lungs, Vadhera said.

"But he was chatting away," Vadhera said.

A self-taught artist, Husain was part of the Progressive Artists' Group in the 1940s. His Indian folklore-inspired paintings sold for millions of dollars, making Husain one of India's highest paid artists.

"Husain is the father of Indian modern art. Indian art would not have become so successful had it not been for him, and today the roof of Indian art has been removed," Vadhera said.

But Husain's work was controversial. He received death threats from Hindu fundamentalists who were offended by the artist's depictions of Hindu goddesses in the nude and a painting of a nude woman in the shape of the map of India.

His work was condemned and his exhibitions vandalized. Husain left India had been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2005.

He was offered citizenship by the government of Qatar, which he accepted in 2010.

"I hope at least now the Indian government will give him the honor and respect that is long long due" art critic S. Kalidas said.