Auction house denies 22 Husain works are ‘fake’

MUMBAI: A day before its Friday auction of ‘Significant Indian Art’, Bangalore-based auction house Bid & Hammer disputed claims by the MF Husain Foundation that 22 works of the late artist up for bidding were fake. The foundation had sent the auctioneers a legal notice on Thursday, claiming the paintings and books by Husain to be auctioned were “unauthenticated’’.
The auction house, through its advocate S V Ganesh, disputed the lack of authenticity and attributed ‘‘mala fides’’ to the “timing of the notice’’ and warned of legal consequences against the “unverified claim’’.
MZM Legal, a Mumbai-based law firm, wrote to Bid & Hammer Auctioneers (P) Ltd on June 26, to express concern on behalf of the foundation. It told the auctioneers to desist from placing Husain’s works in a lot of paintings and books, under the hammer.
The foundation, the law firm said, comprises legal heirs of Husain and holds exclusive rights to reproduce, modify, distribute and deal with his paintings and books. It said the artworks—also to be auctioned online—were “unauthentic, forged and fake’’.
Bid & Hammer questioned the foundation’s authority in claiming sole rights, sought verification of its claim, and warned it of legal consequences if the paintings remain unsold at the auction.
Ganesh, in an email to TOI, said that a physical examination of the painting or art object is a must to ascertain the genuineness or otherwise of a painting or any art object. “This has not been done by the ‘foundation’, and hence its claim can only be an unverified guess,’’ he said.