Fri Mar 21 10:40:58 UTC 2025: ## MF Husain’s Masterpiece Sells for Record-Breaking $13.8 Million
**New Delhi, March 21, 2025** – A monumental work by legendary Indian painter M.F. Husain has shattered the record for the most expensive piece of modern Indian art, selling for over ₹118 crore ($13.8 million) at a Christie’s auction in New York. The painting, *Untitled (Gram Yatra)*, a 13-panel masterpiece from 1954, depicting a “village pilgrimage,” was acquired by art collector and philanthropist Kiran Nadar.
The sale nearly doubles the previous record held by Amrita Sher-Gil’s *The Story Teller*. *Gram Yatra*, which measures nearly 14 feet across, is considered a cornerstone of Husain’s oeuvre, celebrating the dynamism of newly independent India. It had remained largely unseen since its acquisition by a Ukrainian-born doctor, Leon Elias Volodarsky, who later bequeathed it to Oslo University Hospital. Proceeds from the sale will support medical training at the hospital.
Nishad Avari, head of Christie’s South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art, hailed the sale as a “landmark moment,” reflecting the growth of the South Asian art market. The previous record for a Husain painting was $3.1 million. Husain, born in 1915, remains one of India’s most influential artists, known for his prolific work and controversial depictions of Hindu deities, which led to self-imposed exile later in his life. He died in 2011.
First Piper 