Veteran actor Nafisa Ali Sodhi recently took to social media to call out an art auction for allegedly selling a “fake” M.F. Hussain painting. However, the gallery states that the actor’s allegations are “unsubstantiated” and “reckless.”
According to the 64-year-old actor, she commissioned the painting from an artist after noticing his work at a close friend’s gallery. She says, “This painting is my commissioned work by artist Aslam Shaikh, who used to paint at gallerist Nina Pillai’s gallery. I fell in love with his work and as a great appreciator of art, I had to have one Aslam Shaikh. I own this original work and it’s now been copied to be auctioned as an original M. F. Husain, which is totally false. It should be immediately withdrawn from the listing.”
Talking about the art work, Sodhi shares that it is a very close piece of art for her and it is hanging in her living room since 2014 to this day. She says, “I was a part of every step of this art work, from each brush stroke to colour choices. I watched the art work come to life at every stage. I requested the artist to make the horses happy, I feel the horses are very angry in all the paintings and I didn’t want that. I was friends with Husain sahab, he gave me one of his original in London years ago. But this is not his painting.”
Although the auctioneers at Derivaz and Ivez auction house private limited, where the painting is up for bidding later this month, strongly opposes the allegations. They shared in a statement, “The original painting by M.F Husain, now being offered in auction, is part of a larger collection, painstakingly built over forty years of over 80 M.F. Husain artworks acquired by the Agarwal Family, an eminent old family based in Hyderabad and in whose home Husain was a frequent visitor.”
{{/usCountry}}Although the auctioneers at Derivaz and Ivez auction house private limited, where the painting is up for bidding later this month, strongly opposes the allegations. They shared in a statement, “The original painting by M.F Husain, now being offered in auction, is part of a larger collection, painstakingly built over forty years of over 80 M.F. Husain artworks acquired by the Agarwal Family, an eminent old family based in Hyderabad and in whose home Husain was a frequent visitor.”
{{/usCountry}}The statement also read, “Nafisa Ali Sodhi may be unaware that Aslam Shaikh copied the famous M.F Husain painting, Horses Playing with the Sun (1970) and then reproduced it for her, as he had done for numerous other works by himself.”
We were unable to reach the artist for a comment.
Author tweets @digvijayitis
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