How India’s ‘biggest art deal’ buried masterpieces in a bank vault

Nearly twenty paintings by one of the most modern artists in the world – which were once part of an artistic deal to break the record – is scheduled to reach the auction block for the first time next week.

On June 12, 25 rare MF Husain will go in the hammer at an art gallery in Mumbai, more than two decades of drawing it.

This will be the first general overview of the paintings, which have been closed in the bank’s basement since 2008 after the authorities seized it from a prominent businessman due to the failure to pay the alleged loan.

“It seems as if the paintings have become a complete circle,” says Dadaba Bondol, director of the Bondol Art Fair, where the auction will be set.

Husain used the exhibition as a studio for many of these works, which is part of an ambitious series of 100 paint that has never finished. It was often called “Picasso India”, and was one of the most famous artists in the country – controversial. His works brought millions, but his bold topics were often criticized. He died in 2011, 95 years old.

Entitled MF Husain: Vision of an artist for the twenty -fifth century, the 25th painting at the Pundole’a exhibition offers a glimpse of a transformational century that is made up of leaps in technology, politics and culture. Bondol estimated that the auction could reach 29 million dollars (21 million pounds).

This comes after months Other Hussein’s painting, without the title (Gram Yatra)It is sold for $ 13.8 million at the Christie auction in New York, to become the most expensive Indian artwork that is sold by auction.

An oil masterpiece is adorned on the Canvas walls of a Norwegian hospital for nearly five decades, which was forgotten by the art world, until the auction house was alerted about its presence in 2013.

It seems that the latest panels will be sold at a similar tracking auction.

Husain began to work on it in the early first decade of the twentieth century, with great excitement and activity, remembering Pundole.

“When he was drawing, nothing could annoy him. It doesn’t matter what was happening around him.”

In 2004, Husain has sold 25 plates to a businessman in Mumbai as the first batch of a billion rupees deal.

Keshor Singh, author of the book ” Mf Husain: Legend’s Journeyand books On this agreement in the Indian Express.

“he [Husain] “He was not jealous of his fellow artists, but he was a competitor,” Singh wrote, noting [an Indian goddess] It set a new record for the most expensive painting in India in 2002, and sold 15 million rupees.

Husain struck a billion rupees deal with businessman Guru Swarup Srivastava for this series of paintings. It was called the media, which was called “the largest artistic deal in India”, and it rises in the unknown Srivastava to a fame overnight as a celebrity collection.

But two years later, the best crime agency in India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began. Investigation of Srivastava worksHe claims to be partners Use a loan From the government -backed agricultural body.

CBI claimed that Srivastava has transferred money to real estate, joint investment funds and Hussein’s paintings. He and his company deny all charges; The case is still in court.

In 2008, a court of the government -backed agricultural body allowed the seizure of one billion rupees in assets of Srivastava, including 25 Hussein.

In February this year, the court Wipe In order for the panels to be sold at the auction to recover part of the loan. Thus, after years it was closed in the bank’s basement, the 25 paintings are going to the spotlight.

In 2018 interview For the author and journalist Tara Kochl, Srivastava talked about a parked deal with the artist.

He said: “I planned to push Hussein to the rest of the paintings by selling the first 25. But legal complications mean that when Husen called me in 2008, saying that the paintings were ready in London and Paris, and captured at the agreed price, my money was not ready. I understood.”

When asked why Hussein chose to sell his paintings to a person who almost no one knew in the elite art circles in India, Bondol says: “He did not care. As long as his paintings were sold.”

There is no way to find out how Hussein felt the failed deal or the incomplete twentieth century series – but the episode is still a wonderful footnote in his bold career.

The 25 paintings in this series, vibrant acrylics on fabric, show the bold Husain style, unlike the main twentieth century events and social situations.

One of the paintings shows an unbearable group that speaks on a seat, symbolizing Hussein’s call for peaceful dialogue and coexistence between world powers.

Another painting honors Charlie Chaplin as it wanders in the launch of a missile to highlight the contrast between social and economic differences and huge government spending.

Other paintings depict a world fighting poverty, soldiers in trenches, and humanity that face tragedies such as World War II, the oath, and the Holocaust.