It’s not really fair to the heirs of MF Husain to spread gossip about the estate. After all, the great Indian painter divided his property long before his death and put his estate in the hands of his younger children. But The Asian Age says there have been persistent rumors about Husain’s “Maria Collection” a large body of work that the family says was sold before the artist’s death but others have claimed are on the market right now:

Renu Modi, director, Gallery Espace, [says] “Husain called me personally a year ago and informed me that he had sold off all the 75 paintings in the Maria collection to somebody in London. I was trying to find a buyer for it here. Unless the deal didn’t come through, the paintings aren’t in the market.”

A prominent art curator who doesn’t wish to be named says, “The stakes are really high, so there will be problems aplenty in distributing his wealth. Husain was one of the most expensive Indian artists and it’s not just the Maria collection, there are many such paintings which Husain gave away to people. He was working on several projects, which he never finished. And those who had commissioned those works had paid him huge amounts. Now, they want their money back, but the family doesn’t have enough works left to pay them.”

Husains Deny Rift, Money Squabbles (The Asian Age)