Oil painting of Mahatma Gandhi from the time of 2nd Round Table conference sells for Rs 1.63 crore
The oil painting of Mahatma Gandhi was created by Clare Leighton in 1931 and it is reportedly the only time when he sat still.
An oil portrait of Mahatma Gandhi sold for Rs 1.63 crore at the Bonhams auction in London. It was originally valued between Rs 53 lakh and Rs 74 lakh but it ended up in the top lot almost double its pre-sale estimate.
British artist Clare Leighton in 1931 created the painting. It was during Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to London for the Second Round Table Conference when she created the oil painting. Reportedly, she was one of the few artists to get permission to paint Gandhi from his life. It is also said that this was the only picture for which he sat still while Leighton sketched him.
She would sketch him in his iconic seated pose – a shawl around him without any cap on his head and one finger raised. This portrait was exhibited in November 1931 at Albany Galleries in London. Several dignitaries, MPs, leaders like Sarojini Naidu and Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas attended the exhibition though Gandhi did not.
She kept it with her till she died in 1989 in USA. Then her family had it, who recall that the portrait was attacked with a knife in 1974 during an exhibition but was later restored.
