MF Hussain is the greatest ever: Christie’s APAC President on the legend’s world record

The highlight of the Christie's auction in New York last week was the world record set by the iconic Indian artist MF Husain, as his artwork — Untitled (Gram Yatra) — sold for a record-breaking $13.8 million ( ₹118 crore approximately), their highest ever.

Talking to us about it at Christie’s in Hong Kong, Francis Belin, President of Christie's Asia Pacific⁠, says, “MF Hussain is the greatest ever. His work is incredible and the fact that his creation broke the world record last week makes us so proud. He’s put India on a global map when it comes to art. As an art lover, I have so much respect for him.”

In addition to the Husain, the sale also earned records for other Indian artists, including Sayed Haider Raza, Gulam Rasool Santosh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Jeram Patel and B Prabha. The previous record of 7.1 million dollars (about ₹61 crore) was held by Amrita Sher-Gil's 1937 painting, The Story Teller, sold in 2023. The earlier record for a Husain painting was 3.1 million dollars ( ₹26 crore), for his work, Untitled (Reincarnation), sold last year.