New Delhi, April 1 -- Earlier this month, M.F. Husain's Untitled (Gram Yatra) created a record at Christie's South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale in New York. Auctioned at about Rs.118 crore and reportedly purchased by art collector Kiran Nadar, this 1954 work is now the most expensive work of modern Indian art ever sold in a public auction. Spanning 13 vignettes, the painting is emblematic of the various influences on the artist, a coming together of the calligraphic brushstrokes of Chinese art and the Cubist style of Europe with Husain's deep connection with indigenous Indian art.

The late artist has made news twice already this year for vastly different reasons. Recently, a lawyer filed a complaint in a Delhi court as she cons...