'New benchmark': MF Husain masterpiece sells for price of a Beverly Hills mansion

MF Husain's painting 'Untitled (Gram Yatra)' has set a remarkable record by selling for $13.75 million at Christie's auction in New York, marking it as the most expensive modern Indian artwork ever sold at a public auction. 

The sale, which took place on March 19, is also the second-highest price ever fetched by a South Asian artwork, surpassed only by the $24.6m sale of a 12th-century black stone bodhisattva sculpture at Christie’s New York in 2017. The monumental transaction is celebrated as a landmark moment for South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art. 

Christie's reported the piece was bought by an undisclosed institution. It is speculated that Indian art collector Kiran Nadar is the potential buyer of the Husain masterpiece that was kept largely unseen for over 70 years at Oslo University Hospital after it was originally acquired by Leon Elias Volodarsky until the sale this week. Nadar is behind the New Delhi art museum known as KNMA.

Business Today could not independently confirm if Nadar was the buyer. 

Created in 1954, the mural-sized painting nearly quadrupled its estimated value of $3.5 million. 'Untitled (Gram Yatra)' comprises 13 vignettes of rural Indian life, reflecting the nation's identity in the years following its independence. The painting is described as "by far one of the most significant works" of the artist's career, serving as a cornerstone of his oeuvre that celebrates the diversity and dynamism of a newly independent nation. 

Previously, the record for a modern Indian artwork was held by Amrita Sher-Gil's 'The Story Teller', which sold for $7.4 million. Commenting on the auction, Nishad Avari from Christie's expressed his delight, saying, "This is a landmark moment. We are thrilled to set a new benchmark for Husain and the entire category. The Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art market is growing fast," reported The Independent.

MF Husain, often associated with the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, is renowned for his exploration of themes surrounding rural and urban Indian life. His work, sometimes controversial, is significant in shaping the narrative of modern Indian art.