In rare white glove sale at SoBo auction, MF's 25 artworks fetch over 68cr
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Defying calls for a ban from right-wing groups earlier in the week and under tight police watch, 25 artworks by MF Husain fetched Rs 68.5 crore at a court-mandated auction in South Mumbai on Thursday that made for a rare white glove sale where every artwork found a buyer.
A total of 25 paintings across 21 lots from Husain's 'Our Planet Called Earth (OPCE)' series went under the hammer. "Two of the lots were triptychs, each made up of three individual works," said auctioneer Dadiba Pundole. The evening's highest bid was Rs 9.5 crore for a dramatic triptych from the OPCE series, followed by Rs 8.5 crore for a Gandhi-themed canvas, both acquired by the same buyer.
The auction, held at Pundole Art Gallery in Hamilton House in Ballard Estate and overseen by the Bombay High Court through the office of the Bombay Sheriff, went ahead smoothly.
Just days earlier, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had submitted a memorandum demanding a ban on the sale, warning of "strong public protest" if it proceeded. The protest was eventually called off. "The auction proceeded without a hitch. I think the police did a fantastic job," said auctioneer and gallerist Dadiba Pundole.
In 2004, then nearing 90, Husain set out to create 100 paintings that would, in his words, "document the century I have lived through."
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The result was the OPCE collection that reflected his fascination with global events and human achievement spanning the World Wars, space exploration, aviation, cinema, and the tension between nature and modernity. That same year, industrialist Guru Swarup Srivastava bought these paintings from Husain for Rs 25 crore, a record-breaking figure at the time.
Only 25 were completed before the deal collapsed, following Srivastava's Rs 236 crore loan default that led to National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) securing the artworks in 2008.
These artworks remained in legal limbo for over a decade before going under the hammer on Thursday.
Painted in acrylic on expansive canvases, the OPCE works remain among Husain's most theatrical.
The top-selling lot — a large untitled triptych painted in 2004 and exhibited in Paris and Dubai — depicts two seated figures resembling soldiers or explorers at one end, and a butler in a top hat offering a drink at the other.
At the centre lies a reclining figure that evokes classical depictions of Christ in scenes of the Deposition. Art experts have called this one of the most enigmatic works in the OPCE series, with viewers left to speculate whether the figure is resting, unwell, or just theatrically posing.
The second-highest sale of the evening was an acrylic-on-canvas white and grey toned portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, which went for Rs 8.5 crore where Gandhi's face is deliberately cast in shadow, with a white dove — symbol of peace — hovering near his head.
The figure is rendered through familiar details such as the pleats of his dhoti, a pocket watch, his staff, and in the corner, a rural farmer with a plough.
Both paintings had been stored rolled for years and were carefully conserved, cleaned, re-lined, and stretched, with minor restoration work ahead of the sale. The auction drew strong participation from in-room bidders, as well as online and phone buyers, including international interest.
The proceeds will be deposited with the Mumbai Sheriff and subsequently handed over to the High Court.
Husain, long regarded as one of India's most celebrated and controversial modernists, remains a polarising figure. His depictions of Hindu deities and Bharat Mata sparked legal battles and right-wing outrage, eventually pushing him into self-imposed exile.
He died in London in 2011, a citizen of Qatar. But as Thursday's sale showed, even in his absence, Husain continues to provoke and to command the room.
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