Painting by Indian great - found in Matlock home - stuns antiques expert

The artwork is by Gaganendranath Tagore, a pioneer of modern art in India, whose work was displayed in important museums including London’s Victoria and Albert.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers who made the find, said: “It’s one of those amazing discoveries bought by chance around 60 years ago for next to nothing. It was spotted at a junk shop by an old friend of the current vendor so, though we can’t establish what price was paid for it all those years ago, it was likely just a few shillings. It’s spent decades in Derbyshire and turned up at a home in Matlock. It’s destined to soar to success at auction.

“It’s a relatively small, dark landscape and, at first glance, I thought it was fairly insignificant. But when I turned it over a label on the back identified it as a landscape sketch by Gaganendranath (1867-1938), an important historical figure in Indian art. It’s a stunning find.

“The pen ink artwork with watercolour wash is an ethereal picture, possibly a Calcutta landscape. It captures Gaganendranath’s varied brushwork and wash techniques. It spans realism and impressionism in the artist’s unique idiom and reflects the lively curiosity and constant experiments the artist undertook in the history of Indian art.”

Gaganendranath, a painter of the Bengal school, received no formal education and didn’t start painting until he was 38. He trained under watercolourist Harinarayan Bandopadhyay. Ahead of his time, from around 1906 he assimilated Japanese brush techniques and Far Eastern art influences into his work.

In 1907, he and his brother Abanindranath founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art. From 1920 Gaganendranath pioneered experiments in modernist painting. He is thought to be the only pre-1940s Indian painter who made use of Cubism, an early 20th century avant-garde art movement that revolutionised art.

The painting will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ September 27 Derbyshire Fine Art Auction, estimate £3,000-£5,000.