MF Husain ‘s Gram Yatra Sets the Art World Alight
A long-lost MF Husain masterpiece, Untitled (Gram Yatra), has shattered records at Christie’s, fetching $13.8M. Once forgotten in a Norwegian hospital, this 14-foot-wide mural redefines Indian modern art history.
Well, you don’t see that every day. A forgotten oil-on-canvas behemoth by India’s very own modernist maverick, MF Husain, has resurfaced after decades in obscurity and promptly rewritten the record books.
Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra), a sprawling 14-foot-wide mural, waltzed into the limelight at a Christie’s auction in New York last week and went under the hammer for a staggering $13.8m. That’s a tidy sum by anyone’s standards and enough to leave previous records for Indian art in the dust – the erstwhile title-holder being Amrita Sher-Gil’s The Story Teller, which fetched a mere $7.4m in 2023. Pocket change, really, in comparison.
Husain, the enfant terrible of Indian modernism, remains an indelible figure in the art world even after his passing in 2011 at the ripe old age of 95. However, despite his towering legacy, Gram Yatra spent nearly five decades gathering metaphorical dust in a Norwegian hospital, quietly blending into the background like an old but distinguished uncle at a family gathering – the one nobody quite notices until he pipes up with an astonishing anecdote.
Painted in 1954, long before Husain achieved icon status, Gram Yatra (meaning “village journey”) is a kaleidoscopic window into rural India. Its 13 vignettes offer vivid tableaux of village life, infused with Husain’s distinctive cocktail of folk traditions and modernist sensibilities. With earthy tones that seem to pulsate with energy, the frames depict the everyday: women cooking, tending to children, riding carts – each tableau an ode to the rhythms of rural existence. One particularly striking detail sees a farmer reaching out, his hand seemingly grasping the very land in the adjacent frame – a visual metaphor as poetic as it is powerful.
“If you’re looking for a single artwork that defines modern South Asian art, this is it,” proclaimed Nishad Avari, head of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie’s, presumably while resisting the urge to do a victory lap around the auction room.
Husain himself was no stranger to controversy, having fled India in 2006 following death threats from hardline groups incensed by his depictions of Hindu deities. Yet, his work continues to captivate and command astronomical sums, cementing his place in the pantheon of greats.
And so, Gram Yatra emerges from obscurity to reclaim its rightful place in art history – a poignant reminder that even masterpieces can, on occasion, be found hiding in the most unlikely of places. Not bad for something that was, until recently, decorating the walls of a Scandinavian hospital.
News Sources : BBC
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