M F Husain’s 1952 painting ‘The Red Girl’ sells for Rs 65 crore

A painting M.F. Husain created more than seven decades ago has returned to the spotlight, this time under the auctioneer’s hammer. The Red Girl, a 1952 oil on canvas by the celebrated Indian modernist, sold for a hammer price of ₹65 crore at Pundole’s Fine Art Sale in Mumbai on September 24, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of ₹3-5 crore.According to the Free Press Journal, the result meant the painting fetched 13 times the upper end of its estimate and emerged as the top-selling work at the 81-lot auction of modern and contemporary Indian art at Hamilton House. The sale also drew attention to a work whose history goes back to the formative years of Indian modernism.The painting, measuring 48 x 23 7/8 inches, had been among the highlights announced ahead of the auction. Its estimate of ₹3-5 crore had appeared modest against the eventual ₹65-crore hammer price.