Kiran Nadar buys MF Husain's unseen artwork for record-breaking ₹119cr
What's the story
"Untitled (Gram Yatra)" by legendary Indian artist M.F. Husain has been sold for an astonishing $13.8 million (around ₹119 crore) at Christie's auction in New York on March 19.
The wife of HCL Technologies's founder, Kiran Nadar, reportedly bought the painting.
The painting, unseen for over seven decades, is now the most expensive modern Indian art ever sold at public auction.
The artwork depicting rural India spans an impressive 14ft across a single canvas, composed of 13 separate vignettes.
Record-breaking sale
Previous record and auction details
Husain's masterpiece was estimated to be worth $3.5 million, which means the final price is four times higher than the initial expectation.
The sale also marks the second-highest price ever fetched by a South Asian artwork in history.
The previous record for the most expensive Indian artwork was held by Amrita Sher-Gil's "The Story Teller" (1937), which sold for $7.4 million in Mumbai last year.
From creation to auction
The painting's journey and current ownership
Husain's "Gram Yatra," made in 1954, was first bought by Norwegian surgeon and art collector Leon Elias Volodarsky, who was heading a World Health Organization (WHO) team in Delhi then.
In 1964, Volodarsky bequeathed it to Oslo University Hospital, where it remained mostly unseen till now.
The hospital decided to auction the artwork to finance a medical training center, renaming it "The Volodarsky Husain."
Museum
Painting may be displayed at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
The painting is now expected to be put on display at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.
For the large part, Husain's art includes paintings of gods and goddesses set against the backdrop of the political climate of the day, which placed him at the center of controversy.
Husain was driven into self-exile due to FIRs and repeated death threats; he stayed in Dubai and traveled to New York and London before passing away on June 9, 2011, at 95.