A forgotten oil-on-canvas masterpiece by Indian painter MF Husain, rediscovered decades later, has rewritten the record books for Indian art.
Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra), a sprawling 14-foot-wide mural, sold for an unprecedented $13.8m (£10.6m) at a Christie’s auction in New York last week. It shattered the previous Indian high of $7.4m (£5.7m) fetched by Amrita Sher-Gil’s The Story Teller in 2023.
Husain, who died in 2011, aged 95, was a pioneer of Indian modernism and remains a lasting inspiration for Indian artists. In 2006, he left India after death threats from Hindu hardline groups over his depictions of deities.
For nearly five decades, the record-breaking painting unassumingly adorned the walls of a Norwegian hospital, overlooked and undervalued. Now, it stands as a defining work of modern South Asian art.
Husain painted Gram Yatra – or village journey – in 1954, long before he became an icon.
Its 13 vignettes – vivid snapshots of Indian village life – reflect his distinctive blend of Indian folk traditions and modernist influences. The vignettes are reminiscent of narrative paintings in India’s miniature tradition, where small pictures weave a story.
In Gram Yatra, Husain used vibrant, earthy tones to bring 13 frames to life, with women in everyday scenes such as cooking, caring for children and riding a cart.
In one of the frames, a farmer extends his arm as if holding the land in the adjoining frame – a nod to the farming roots of Indian society.
“If you’re looking for a single artwork that defines modern South Asian art, this is it,” said Nishad Avari, head of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie’s.
The painting, he added, also showed how Husain was influenced by his foreign travels, notably his 1952 trip to China which introduced him to the calligraphic brushwork of artists like Xu Beihong, traces of which can be seen in the painting’s expressive strokes.
In the years following India’s independence, he sought inspiration not in Paris or New York, but in India’s villages, mirroring Mahatma Gandhi’s belief that the heart of the nation lay in its rural roots.
According to Husain’s biographer Akhilesh (who uses only one name), the painter’s deep engagement with India’s cultural fabric helped shape how the country saw itself – “how people live, what they like and what they think”.
The painting also shows the early signs of Husain’s modified cubist style – where geometric shapes and bold lines stood out in his works.
The painting’s journey from Delhi to Oslo adds to its mystique.
It was purchased in 1954 for just $295 by Ukrainian doctor Leon Elias Volodarsky, who was in India on a World Health Organization (WHO) mission.
After he took it to Norway, the piece adorned the walls of Oslo University Hospital for nearly half a century, largely unnoticed by the art world.
It stayed that way for several decades until auction house Christie’s was alerted about it in 2013 – two years after Husain’s death – leading to its global exhibitions before this record-smashing sale.
Ashish Anand of Delhi Art Gallery believes this will elevate the value of Husain’s entire body of work and “lead to Indian art being viewed beyond just its aesthetic value to a tangible and serious financial asset”.
Credit: BBC