Kiran Nadar pays Rs 119 cr for MF Husain's work, breaking records

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Indian art collector and philanthropist Kiran Nadar is believed to have purchased MF Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra) for a staggering $13.8 million (around Rs 119 crore), breaking all previous auction records for Indian art, according to The Economic Times.

 

The painting, which had remained virtually unseen in Norway for decades, was sold through Christie’s on March 20. The auction house said it went to an “unnamed institution,” widely understood to be the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), where Nadar is a trustee. She is also the wife of HCL founder Shiv Nadar.

 

This sale sets a new benchmark, nearly doubling the previous record of Rs 61.8 crore, held by Amrita Sher-Gil’s The Story Teller, auctioned in September 2023.

 

Painting once gifted to a hospital

 

According to RPG chairman Harsh Goenka, the artwork was originally gifted to Oslo University Hospital by Dr Volodarsky. Goenka wrote on X, “Indian modern art gets its due! M F Hussain’s Gram Yatra (1954) breaks the Rs 100 crore barrier, selling for $13.8M to Kiran Nadar. Once gifted to Oslo University Hospital by Dr Volodarsky, its proceeds will now support a noble cause for creating a medical training centre.”

 

The previous high for a Husain painting was around RS 26.8 crore ($3.1 million) for Untitled (Reincarnation), sold in London last year.

 

“This is a landmark moment and continues the extraordinary upward trajectory of the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art market,” said Nishad Avari, head of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie’s, in a quote carried by Business Standard earlier.

 

Every year, the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index (KFLII) tracks the performance of ten passion investment categories. In the 12 months ending December 2022, art delivered the highest return—29%. But KFLII’s Q4 2024 report shows that art prices have since dropped 18.3% in the past year.

 

Over the longer term, however, art has seen more stability, with a 1.9% rise over five years and a 54% increase over a decade.

 

What is passion investment?

 

Passion investment involves buying items driven by personal interest rather than financial return. These usually include physical assets like:

 

Fine art  

Vintage cars  

Rare wines  

Luxury watches  

Antique furniture  

Handbags  

 

These items don’t generate income while held, unlike stocks or bonds. Instead, their value depends on factors like rarity, condition, and market demand.

 

How other passion assets performed

 

According to Knight Frank’s Q4 2024 data:

 

Handbags: Up 2.8% in a year; 34% over five years; 85.5% over a decade  

Jewellery: Rose 2.3% in a year; 20.2% in five years; 33.5% in ten  

Coins: Increased 2.1% in a year; 23.6% over five; 47.5% over ten  

Watches: Up 1.7% in a year; 52.7% in five; 125.1% in ten  

Cars: Climbed 1.2% in a year; 29.5% in five; 58.9% in ten  

Coloured diamonds: Fell 2.2% in a year; up 4.8% in five; 3.8% in ten  

Furniture: Dropped 2.8% in a year; up 60.5% in five; 140.9% in ten  

Whisky: Down 9% in a year; 9.9% drop in five; up 191.7% over ten  

Wine: Fell 9.1% in a year; up 8.3% in five; 37.4% in ten

 

Indian art market sees record growth

 

On the domestic front, Data from the 2024 Hurun India Art List suggests the art market is experiencing a sharp rise in both interest and value. The entry point for the top 10 artists has jumped from Rs 1.99 crore in 2021 to Rs 7.7 crore in 2024, marking a 287% increase. The combined value of the top 50 artworks reached Rs 252.61 crore this year, compared to Rs 82.57 crore in 2021. The minimum threshold to make it into the Top 25 artists has also gone up—from Rs 35 lakh in 2021 to Rs 1.9 crore in 2024. The number of lots sold has grown as well, with 789 artworks sold in 2024, up from 495 in 2021, showing a 59% increase in volume.