How the “most big deal of art” of India for buried masterpieces in bank vault

Nearly two dozen paintings by one of the most famous contemporary artists in the world – once part of a record deal for art – are ready to hit the auction block for the first time next week.

On June 12, 25 rare paintings by MF Husain will go under the hammer in an art gallery in Mumbai, more than two decades after painting them.

This will be the first public look at the paintings imprisoned in bank arches since 2008, after the authorities seized them from a prominent businessman for the alleged default of the loan.

“It is as if the paintings have fallen into a full circle,” says Dadiba Pundole, director of the Pundole Art Gallery, where the auction will take place.

Husain uses the gallery as its studio for many of these works, part of an ambitious series of 100 drawings it has never completed. Often called “Picasso of India”, he was one of the most famous – and controversial artists in the country. His works have brought millions, but his bold topics often cause criticism. He died in 2011, 95 years old.

Entitled MF Husain: The vision of the XX century artist, the 25 paintings in the Pundole'a gallery offer a view of his transformative age, shaped by jumps in technology, politics and culture. Pundole estimates that the auction can bring up to $ 29 million (£ 21 million).

This comes months after Another picture of Husaine, without title (gram yatra)Sold for an unprecedented $ 13.8 million auction at Christie in New York, becoming the most expensive Indian works of art auctioned.

Canwas's oil masterpiece had decorated the walls of a Norwegian hospital for almost five decades, forgotten by the art world until the auction house was signaled for his presence in 2013.

The latest paintings that need to be auctioned seems to follow a similar trajectory.

Husine began working on them in the early 2000s, with great excitement and energy, Pundole recalls.

“When he was drawing, nothing could disturb him. It didn't matter what was happening around him,” he adds.

In 2004, Husain sold 25 paintings to a businessman in Mumbai as the first installment of a billion rupee deal.

Kishor Singh, author of MF Husain: The journey of a legend., wrote Concerning this agreement in the Indian Express newspaper.

“He (Husine) was not jealous of his fellow artists, but he was competitive,” writes Singh, noting that Husine achieved the deal shortly after Tyb Mehta's Indian goddess (sold for 15 million rupees.

Husine has hit a billion rupees, which he deals with businessman Guru Swarup Srivastava for this series of paintings. The media called it “the biggest art deal in India”, catapulting the little-known collapse in fame overnight as a collector of celebrities.

But two years later, the highest crime agency in India, Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) has begun Investigation of the Business of the Sriva Standclaim that he and the associates had abuse a loan by a government -backed agricultural body.

CBI's statement that Srivastava has diverted the funds in real estate, mutual funds and paintings by Husain. He and his company deny all fees; The case remains in court.

In 2008, a tribunal allowed the government-backed agricultural authority to seize one billion rupees in the assets of the Shrivawava, including the 25 Husaine paintings.

In February this year clear the road To auction the paintings to recover some of the loan. So, after years, closed in bank arches, the 25 paintings finally step into the spotlight.

In 2018 interview The author and journalist Tara Causal, Srivastava talks about her deal with the artist.

“I had planned to pay Husain for the other paintings, selling the first 25. But legal complications meant that when Husin called me in 2008, saying that the paintings were ready in London and Paris and to take them at the agreed price, my funds were not ready,” he said.

Asked why Husain chose to sell his paintings to a man who almost no one knows in the elite circles of India's art, Pundol says: “He didn't care. Until his paintings are sold.”

There is no way to understand how Hussain felt about the unsuccessful deal or his unfinished series of the 20th century – but the episode remains a striking footnote in his bold, event career.

The 25 paintings in this series, live acrylics on the canvas, show the bold style of Husaine, while reflecting key events from the 20th century and social attitudes.

One picture shows unlikely a group chat on a bench, symbolizing the call of Hussain for peaceful dialogue and a joint existence between global forces.

Another picture honors Charlie Chaplin as she compares a rocket to emphasize the contrast between social and economic differences and mass government spending.

Other paintings depict a worldwide, fighting poverty, the soldiers in the trenches and humanity, facing tragedies such as World War II, division and the Holocaust.