The late Maqbool Fida Husain’s monumental painting, Untitled (Gram Yatra), shattered current records for modern Indian art, selling for a staggering Rs 118.7 crore ($13.75 million) at Christie’s New York auction of South Asian modern and contemporary art on Wednesday.
This is almost double the previous record of Rs 61.8 crore set by Amrita Sher-Gil’s 1937 oil on canvas, titled The Story Teller, in September 2023.
Applause erupted at the Rockefeller Centre as the hammer came down to announce the sale of the work that has been largely unseen for 70 years. The winning bid came from an unnamed institution.
“This is a landmark moment and continues the extraordinary upward trajectory of the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art market,” said Nishad Avari, head of Christie’s South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art, in a statement. The previous record for a Husain was about Rs 26.8 crore ($3.1million) for a painting named Untitled (Reincarnation). It was set in London last year.
Spanning nearly 14 feet, Untitled (Gram Yatra), 1954, is a significant milestone in Husain’s artistic journey, and an epic survey of Indian society. The painting unfolds across 13 vignettes, each vividly illustrating scenes of rural Indian life.
At the heart of the composition, a man and woman ride an ox-drawn cart, grounding the narrative in India’s agrarian roots. Surrounding this central image are depictions of women milking cows, milling grain, and caring for children — themes that highlight fertility, creation, and renewal, details Christie’s website. A striking image is that of a farmer standing strong, lifting the land in both a literal and symbolic sense – a focus on the foundational role of rural India in shaping the country’s post-Independence identity.
The journey of Untitled (Gram Yatra) itself is as compelling as the painting’s narrative. According to Christie’s website, shortly after its completion in 1954, the painting left India and found its way to Norway, where it remained largely unseen for decades.
The piece was acquired by Ukrainian-born Norway-based doctor, Leon Elias Volodarsky, who was in Delhi to establish a thoracic surgery training centre for the World Health Organisation. Volodarsky bequeathed the painting to Oslo University Hospital in 1964. Proceeds from its upcoming sale will support the training of future generations of doctors at the institution, Christie’s said in a statement.
The rediscovery of Untitled (Gram Yatra) has reignited excitement among art historians and collectors alike. The painting’s unique blend of European and East Asian influences within an Indian narrative reveals Husain’s global outlook.
Having travelled to China in 1952, the artist encountered painters like Xu Beihong and Qi Baishi, the influence of whose calligraphic brushwork is evident in the painting. Similarly, his travels to Europe in 1953 found him engaging with the works of Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and Amedeo Modigliani. While their influences, too, are visible in the motifs and the Cubist style, the work remains rooted in the Indian idiom.
“If you’re looking for a single artwork that defines modern South Asian art, this is it,” Avari said on Christie’s website. “The painting grapples with what it means to be both South Asian and a modern artist.”
