GLEN COVE, NY.- Roland Auctions NY will present a rare, never viewed before 1962 oil on canvas painting by acclaimed Indian Modernist painter Akbar Padamsee (1928 – 2020), who was once a protégé of The Aga Khan.

One of the pioneers and stalwarts of Indian modern art, Akbar Padamsee went to live in Paris from his native Mumbai in the early 1960’s, after his family got the blessing of the Aga Khan, the religious and spiritual head of the Khoja Muslim community to which Akbar’s family belonged - who, at that time, was visiting India. He not only endorsed Akbar’s desire to specialize in art but also suggested he should go to Paris for further studies. The Aga Khan’s approval and blessings, in effect, sealed Akbar’s destiny.

This untitled painting will be the highlight of Roland Auction’s much-anticipated March 28th2026 spring auction, and had previously been part of a prominent New York City family’s personal collection. The Padamsee was purchased in France in 1964 and remained in the one family all these years.The Akbar Padamsee (Indian, 1928-2020) is an untitled 20th Century oil on canvas depicting an abstract composition. It’s signed and dated lower left "Padamsee, 62" with a gold leaf frame; The Art is 36" H x 26" W and framed is 45” x 33”.


Akbar Padamsee (Indian, 1928-2020) untitled 20th Century oil on canvas depicting an abstract composition, signed and dated lower left 1962.

The painting comes from the estate of Elizabeth Debevoise Healy and husband Harold Harris Healy Jr. , through their son Harold Harris Healy III, who was actually with his parents as an 8 year-old child when they bought the piece in a “dusty art shop” in the Dordogne River Valley in 1964. Harris Healy has fond memories of the years living in Paris and vividly recalls “moving into this huge apartment in Paris that was beautifully furnished but had nothing on the walls”. That’s when his parents began searching for just the right artwork to suit their new apartment, as the French art world was burgeoning with new and emerging artists. “One day my parents took me into this tiny, dusty art shop in Dordogne where we found and purchased the Padamsee”, which has been with us ever since”. The family eventually came back to New York City in 1966 where they lived until Harold Harris Healy Jr.’s death in 2007 and Elizabeth’s passing in 2023.

Harold H. Healy Jr. married Elizabeth Anne Debevoise in 1952, in New York City. Elizabeth was the daughter of Eli Whitney Debevoise, a prominent lawyer and founder of the firm Debevoise & Plimpton. The family had descendants dating back to the Mayflower. Elizabeth, also known as Betsy, grew up in Manhattan, attended the Brearley School followed by Vassar College from which she graduated in 1949. In the 1950’s, she enjoyed the cultural events of the city as well as her memberships in the Colony Club, the Colonial Dames of America and the Society Of Daughters of Holland Dames.

Their son, Harold Harris Healy III (known as Harris), was born in 1956 and the family went to live in Paris, France in the mid 1960’s, where Harold H. Healy Jr. continued his distinguished career in international law. They also traveled extensively to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Scandinavia, Russia, Egypt, Israel, India and Morocco.

The family had just moved into their Paris apartment and was shopping for art to fill their walls, while Akbar Padamsee was just coming into prominence in the art world there. They also started buying Abstracts by Peter Todd Mitchell, among others.


Akbar Padamsee (Indian, 1928-2020) untitled 20th Century oil on canvas, 1962, depicting an abstract composition, signed and dated lower left.

Padamsee’s first solo exhibition was held in Paris in 1952 at Galerie Saint Placide and while his illustrious career went on to span almost seven decades, he had remained fiercely experimental. His extensive oeuvre are the Metascapes and mirror images, along with figures and heads, which he alternates between. Prices for Padamsees’s works continue to escalate at auction.

Other artwork in the Healy family collection at Roland will include an abstract watercolor on paper by postwar German artist Ernst William Nay (1902–1968), untitled abstract watercolor on paper, 1956, has had some conservator work, signed and dated to lower right, along with an Old Master painting of The Annunciation and a Georges Feher (Hungarian, 1929-2015) oil on canvas city scene, 1962, dated and signed.


**Please visit us at Roland NY at 150 School Street in Glen Cove, NY **For further information call 212-260-2000 or visit: www.rolandantiques.com