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M.F. Husain's 'Untitled (Gram Yatra)' Sets Record with $13.8 Million Auction Sale

The monumental 1954 painting becomes the most expensive modern Indian artwork ever auctioned, with proceeds funding a medical training center in Oslo.

The 14 feet long oil on canvas, Untitled (Gram Yatra), ​was completed in 1954. (X)
Image
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MF Husain (HT File)

Overview

  • M.F. Husain's 14-foot-long 'Untitled (Gram Yatra)' sold for $13.8 million at Christie's in New York, shattering its $2.5–$3.5 million pre-auction estimate.
  • The painting, created in 1954, features 13 vignettes of Indian village life and reflects Husain's vision of post-independence nation-building.
  • The sale quadrupled Husain's previous auction record of $3.1 million and surpassed the $7.4 million record for modern Indian art set by Amrita Sher-Gil's 'The Story Teller' in 2023.
  • Acquired by Norwegian surgeon Leon Elias Volodarsky in 1954 and unseen for over 70 years, the painting was consigned by Oslo University Hospital.
  • Proceeds from the auction will fund a medical training center in honor of Volodarsky, while speculation suggests the painting may have been purchased for the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi.