Howard Hodgkin produced the limited edition print, Indian Leaves, in 1982 on the occasion of the exhibition, Indian Leaves, at Tate Britain (formerly known as Tate Gallery), 22 September - 11 November 1982. The exhibition showed paintings that Hodgkin produced in 1978 during a trip to India, where he was invited to stay by the Sarabhai family whose compound was opposite a paper mill in Ahmedabad. Each day they supplied him with paper freshly made in the mill. Hodgkin worked on the wet paper with brushes and rags dipped in vegetable dyes in rich colours. He painted vignettes he recalled from previous trips to India.

To accompany the exhibition, Hodgkin’s print publisher Paul Cornwall-Jones of Petersburg Press asked him to make a lithograph for the deluxe version of the catalogue. Hodgkin created Indian Leaves, 1982/2024, inspired by his experiences in India. He approved and signed the final proof of the edition, referred to as the Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.). Although the edition was printed, it was not used for the catalogue and so it remained unpublished.

42 years after the Tate exhibition, the Howard Hodgkin Legacy Trust have made the lithographs available to a small selection of cultural institutions. Tate is the first institution in London to release the edition for sale. The artwork is not signed by the artist but is stamp-signed and editioned by the Howard Hodgkin Legacy Trust. The lithograph is accompanied by individual certificates of authenticity, which are signed by the Trustees of the Howard Hodgkin Legacy Trust.