Kiran Nadar, one of India’s most important collectors, reveals art news She was the buyer of a large 1954 painting by MF Husain Untitled (Gram Yatra)sold for $13.8 million at Christie’s in New York.
The work was sold at the South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction held during Asia Art Week in New York. With a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million, it is currently the most expensive work of Indian modern art ever sold at auction.
The piece was originally owned by Norwegian surgeon Leon Elias Volodarsky, who acquired it in New Delhi in 1954. His estate donated it to Oslo University Hospital in 1964, which in turn entrusted it to Christie’s. (The sale process took 13 years and was approved by the hospital’s board of directors.)
Nader joins her husband Shiva art newsSince 2019, the Top 200 Collectors list has been selected every year. MF Husain’s work joins the more than 15,000 pieces already owned by the couple, many of which are on display at Delhi’s Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA). “MF Husain’s magnum opus Untitled (Gram Yatra)in 1954, was a landmark acquisition of the museum’s collection,” she told art news.
This is not the first time they have purchased a record-breaking piece of Indian modern art. They also snatched SH Raza’s Saurashtra (1983) was shot in 2010 for £2.39 million (approximately $3.51 million at the time), while FN Souza’s born (1955) sold for $4.09 million in 2015.
KNMA will soon no longer be the only place to see Hussein’s major works. In November, Lawh Wa Qalam: MF Husain Museum will open in Doha, Qatar. The 32,300-square-foot museum is spearheaded by Qatar Foundation and is based on a painting by Emirati citizen Hussein.
The painting is nearly 14 feet long and contains 13 vignettes of daily life in India. Painted five years after India’s independence, Nadar said, “This epic panorama not only represents Hussain’s largest work of the 1950s, but is arguably his most important artistic statement of the decade, embodying the role of art as a nation-building tool. The work reflects India’s deep historical roots, evolving future, and Hussain’s dialogue with international modernism as a visual chronicler of independent India, making this work a visual recorder of independent India.” This acquisition is of great significance. “
