Canvas to Currency: How Indian Art is Going Global

IN 1954, renowned Ukrainian surgeon Leon Elias Volodarsky, who was on a UN mission to India, discovered a large painting in a New Delhi art gallery. Spanning nearly 14 ft and heavily inspired by the Indian tradition of miniature paintings, the mural-sized work comprised 13 vignettes in a vibrant, rich colour palette depicting various scenes from a typical Indian village.

The painting, by a then-unknown artist, fetched a benevolent $295 (nearly ₹1,400 then) from Dr Volodarsky, an ardent collector. Within a decade, the painting went on to adorn the walls of the Oslo University Hospital, where it lay in oblivion until its re-emergence early this year in a packed auction room beneath the gilded ceilings of New York’s Rockefeller Center. As the gavel came down and applause erupted, the art world witnessed a defining moment — M.F. Husain’s sprawling, kinetic canvas, Untitled (Gram Yatra), was sold for $13.75 million (₹119 crore, at the then-prevailing exchange rate), setting a record for modern Indian art. The historic sale, executed by Christie’s, cemented the work as the most expensive Indian painting ever auctioned.