In April 1954, during the scorching summer, an exhibition of works exhibited by some Indian artists who were starting to emerge was launched at the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) in New Delhi. AIFACS was located across from the iconic Parliament House in Lutyens’ Delhi and was the platform where the newly formed Progressive Artists’ Group members showed their talent. The group was founded in 1947 in Mumbai with the aim to liberate modern art from European artistic conventions and to create a distinctly Indian modern art movement that would champion the condition of the country.
Norwegian doctor Leon Elias Volodarsky was among the visitors to that landmark exhibition, taking part in an India visit in his capacity as a World Health Organization mission. His job was to assist Indian doctors in opening up a tuberculosis hospital, which took a huge toll on people at that time. When Volodarsek visited the AIFACS exhibition, he was spellbound by the large painting of 13 flood scenes of rural India. The four-meter-long and almost a meter-high striking canvas was done by a young Mumbai-based artist, Maqbool Fida Husain, who was a member of the Progressive Artists’ Group.
Selling the artwork for 1,400 rupees, Volodarsky purchased the painting because moved by its power and cultural depth. Once he moved to Antwerp, Belgium, in 1916, he took it home to Oslo, Norway.
This very painting, Untitled (Gram Yatra), was back in the headlines 70 years later. It is a historical moment for Indian art to sell a painting at a Christie’s auction in New York for a whopping 13.71 million dollars (roughly 118 crore rupees), breaking the record for the costliest Modern Indian artwork ever sold at a public auction. Until now, the highest recorded sales had been of Amrita Sher-Gil‘s The Story Teller in 2023 at 7.1 million dollars.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News