AI to “donate” its Maharaja Collection of 4,000 paintings

• The 4,000 paintings in the Air India office, Mumbai are to be given away to the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi next week.
  
• The artists of these paintings include the celebrated MF Husain, VS Gaitonde, Jatin Das and Anjolie Ela Menon.
  
• This decision was taken after the prime minister approved the proposal of selling the AI Mumbai office in the process of disinvestment of the airlines.

The Maharaja Collection of about 4,000 paintings in the Air India office in Mumbai is expected to be given away to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Delhi. The paintings should reach Delhi by the AI planes next week. This decision was taken after the prime minister approved the proposal of selling the AI building at Nariman Point, South Mumbai to the Shipping Ministry.

This is being done after the government took a decision of disinvesting in the airlines that has been facing huge debts and losses for a while now.

The Maharaja Collection includes paintings by several celebrated artists including MF Husain, VS Gaitonde, Jatin Das and Anjolie Ela Menon. Instances of negligence and mismanagement of the expensive art pieces by AI were commonly heard and the paintings had been gathering dust at the office.

The Centre had ordered NGMA to collect the artwork as a donation from AI since it is the only institution in India to have the authority to collect and display modern art. NGMA also plans to exhibit some of the pieces at its Jaipur House building.

The government of Mumbai had begun taking inventory of the collection in 2014 and had found that some valuable pieces were not properly preserved. Last year, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha, had announced that he hoped to ensure a safe custody for the artwork soon. For the same purpose, setting up of a museum at Nariman Point building was proposed with a budget of ₹ 50 million. However, the tender was never awarded since it was not certain whether the airline would continue to operate or not.

There are no official estimates of the worth of the entire collection of the art at the AI Mumbai office. It has about 7,000 items including the 4,000 paintings, stone sculptures, wooden frames, decorative items and clocks. Some of the items even date back to the 9th century. The collection was built over more than 60 years after Independence and was driven by JRD Tata who wanted to put “a little bit of India” in the offices of the erstwhile Tata Airlines.