The Economic Times : Sotheby’s to unveil The Indian Sale in London on May 24

ASHOKE NAG

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, MAY 09, 2007

KOLKATA: Come May 24, top notch auctioneer Sotheby’s will open The Indian Sale in London. The auction includes 166 lots with 150 of them being modern and contemporary collections. 16 lots embrace miniatures and early paintings. The auction is estimated at a total value of £2.7-3.7 million which are lower and the upper estimates.

The sale is fielding a sizeable selection of FN Souza and SH Raza works. The highest priced is a VS Gaitonde Untitled which boasts of an estimate of £300,000-500,000.

Together with the Gaitonde, the cream of estimates are a Souza Head at £100,000-150,000 and an untitled work by the artist which is placed at £50,000-70,000. Three more Souza untitled paintings are placed in the region of £180,000-220,000, £50,000-70,000 and £80,000-100,000. A Souza Landscape in Red is estimated in the range of £30,000-50,000.

There is also a Tyeb Mehta untitled which is valued at £140,000-180,000, a SH Raza untitled which shows a price of £40,000-60,000, K.K. Hebbar’s Search £30,000-50,000 and Ram Kumar untitled £40,000-60,000. The auction also harbours some Husains. Two untitled MF Husains are each pegged at £40,000-60,000, while Husain’s Mother Teresa diptych is estimated in the band of £80,000-100,000.

Bikash Bhattacharjee’s Red Balloon is seen as one of the prime highlights of the auction which reflects an estimate £60,000-80,000. At the same time, Jogen Chowdhury’s Nude has found an estimate £20,000-30,000 and Paritosh Sen’s The Party is estimated at £20,000-30,000.

In tandem, J. Swaminthan’s Untitled is valued in the region of £60,000-80,000, Krishen Khanna £50,000-70,000, an Akbar Padamsee Head £30,000-50,000, with Rameshwar Broota’s Unidentified Soldier hovering at £20,000-30,000. In step, B Prabha is projected to fetch £10,000-15,000, while a Ganesh Pyne drawing is valued at £4,000-6,000.

In the slightly earlier paintings, Hemen Mazumdar is estimated at £18,000-22,000, the Jamini Roys in the range of £3,000-10,000 and the miniatures in the bracket of £7,000-12,000. Among the clutch of contemporary artists, Shibu Natesan is priced at £15,000-20,000, Sudhansu Sutar £4,000-6,000, Jagannath Panda £7,000-10,000 and Ravikumar Kashi £3,000-5,000.

“It is a very good blend of the modern and the contemporary as well as miniatures. It starts with the miniatures and then leads into the modern and the contemporary. The Gaitonde is a very interesting work. A Souza reclining nude inspired by Titian is also high quality. There’s also an unusual Bikash,” Dadiba Pandole, consultant to Sotheby’s in India, told ET.

“The auction appears to be a very balanced sale, covering a whole cross-section of Indian artists. This is the third sale of Indian art in London by Sotheby’s. It should do quite well and interest a wider audience. The sale has works positioned in varied price points.

There are collections for everyone. One has Souza works priced at even £1,500. Keenness about Indian art is growing in the West. So, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more bidders. This is the largest sale of Indian art in London in terms of lots. We have sourced works from across the world including Europe and India,” Mr Pandole said.