Once the auction concludes, the Sheriff of Mumbai is required to submit a report to the high court by July 3 and seek final instructions for the transfer of the artworks.
Mumbai: As many as 25 rare paintings of late Indian modernist painter and ex-Member of Rajya Sabha, MF Husain, secured by NAFED as part of the proceeds of an alleged loan default case, will be auctioned on June 12, as per a Bombay High Court sanction.
The 25 rare paintings by Husain that are set to be auctioned belong to the “Our Planet Called Earth” (OPCE) series. This series represents Husain’s later artistic direction, focusing on creating anthological works, and these 25 pieces are part of a larger project he envisioned consisting of 100 paintings.
About the paintings: The artworks explore multiple themes, featuring Husain’s famous horses as well as portrayals of notable figures such as Humphrey Bogart, Charlie Chaplin, Marcel Marceau, and Mahatma Gandhi. Initially, the paintings were confiscated and kept in bank vaults due to a legal issue.
Dadiba Pundole from the Pundole Art Gallery in Mumbai mentioned that Husain was deeply engaged in developing a series intended to encapsulate the essence of the twentieth century as he had perceived it.
“It was 2003. He was very enthusiastic and energized. It seemed like a grand undertaking, and I questioned how he would portray an entire century, but at that time, I didn’t express the scale of this project,” Pundole remarked.
After being stored in a bank locker, they were subsequently moved to a Fine Art Warehouse for preservation and evaluation before the auction.
Auction date: The auction is set to take place on June 12 at the Hamilton House in South Mumbai. Once the auction concludes, the Sheriff of Mumbai is required to submit a report to the high court by July 3 and seek final instructions for the transfer of the artworks.
Case history: In an order dated February 17, Justice R I Chagla of a single bench authorized the Sheriff of Mumbai to auction 25 paintings that were held by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) due to a loan dispute amounting to Rs 236 crore with industrialist Guru Swarup Srivastava’s Swarup Group of Industries. Srivastava gained attention in 2007 when he commissioned 100 paintings from M F Husain, each costing Rs 1 crore.
Last May, art expert Dadiba Pundole presented a valuation report to the High Court, estimating the paintings’ worth at Rs 25 crore. Following the High Court’s directive, the Sheriff of Mumbai issued an auction notice for the paintings in February, facilitated by Pundole Art Gallery.
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