Mahatma Gandhi oil portrait fetches millions at UK auction

London | A rare oil portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, believed to be the only one he sat for the artist to paint, has fetched triple its estimate at 152,800 pounds in a Bonhams auction in London.

The painting, which had never before been offered at auction, had been on offer for an online auction with a guide price range between 50,000 and 70,000 pounds and was the top lot of the Travel and Exploration sale, which concluded on Tuesday.

The portrait artist, Clare Leighton, was introduced to Gandhi when he visited London in 1931 to attend the Second Round Table Conference.

"Thought to be the only oil painting of Mahatma Gandhi, which he sat for, this was a very special work, which had never before been offered at auction,” said Rhyanon Demery, Bonhams Head of Sale.

"Completed in London by the artist Clare Leighton, mainly known for her wood engravings, this work was a testament to Gandhi's power to connect with people far and wide, and presented a lasting document of an important moment in history,” she said.

The portrait remained in the artist's collection until her death in 1989, after which it was passed down through her family.

“It is no wonder that this work sparked such interest across the globe,” added Demery.

At the time of painting it, Leighton was in a relationship with the political journalist Henry Noel Brailsford. A passionate supporter of Indian independence, Brailsford had travelled to the country in 1930, later publishing the book ‘Rebel India' in support of the Indian independence cause, the year he first met Gandhi at the Round Table Conference.

Bonhams said that it was through this connection that Leighton was introduced to Gandhi. She was one of the very few artists admitted to his office and was allowed to sit with him on multiple occasions to sketch and paint his likeness, the auction house revealed.

In November of 1931, Leighton showcased her portrait of Gandhi in an exhibition at the Albany Galleries in London.

Journalist Winifred Holtby attended the opening and wrote about the event in her column for the trade union magazine ‘The Schoolmistress', stating; 'Members of Parliament and ex-Members, artists, journalists and art critics, stood among exquisite Indian women in bright saris, and the dignified figures of some of the chief Hindu representatives at the Conference.

Mrs Naidu, the statesman-poet, was there... and Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas, one of the Mahatma's colleagues." Gandhi himself did not attend the party, but it was noted that he was vitally present in the works on display, which included the portrait of him in oil.

Describing the painting in more detail, Holtby stated at the time: "The little man squats bare-headed, in his blanket, one finger raised, as it often is to emphasise a point, his lips parted for a word that is almost a smile. That is very much as I saw him when he came as guest to a big luncheon in Westminster at which I was present a little while ago.

“He was the political leader there, the subtle negotiator, the manipulator of Congress, the brilliant lawyer, the statesman who knows just how to play on the psychology of friends and enemies alike." The following month, Gandhi's personal secretary Mohadev Desai wrote a letter to Leighton, a copy of which is attached to the backing board of the portrait.

It reads: "It was such a pleasure to have had you here for many mornings doing Mr Gandhi's portrait. I am sorry I didn't see the final result, but many of my friends who saw it in the Albany Gallery said to me that it was a good likeness. I am quite sure Mr Gandhi has no objection to its being reproduced."

There does not appear to be any record of Leighton's oil portrait of Gandhi being exhibited again until 1978, when the Boston Public Library staged an exhibition of Leighton's work. However, according to the artist's family, the portrait was thought to have been on public display in 1974 when it was attacked with a knife by a person.

A label attached to the backing board confirms that the painting was restored in 1974 by the Lyman Allyn Museum Conservation Laboratory.