Seized, in bank vaults for years, 25 rare MF Husain works to be auctioned

DADIBA PUNDOLE of the Mumbai-based Pundole Art Gallery vividly recalls the winter of 2003, when artist MF Husain spent weeks at their space, immersed in creating what he described as a series that would capture the essence of the 20th century as he had experienced it.

- VANDANA KALRA

"He was extremely excited and charged. It sounded ambitious and I wondered how he would paint an entire century, but at that stage, I had no indication of the extent of this project," says Pundole. He recalls the artist spreading two rolls of canvas on two large walls at the gallery and getting to work with acrylic paints, water, brushes, cotton rags and charcoal.

Over two decades on, the works are among the 25 Husain canvases that have been taken out of the vaults of a private bank in Mumbai, where they were kept as part of the proceeds of an alleged loan default case, and will be auctioned.