Christie's first India sale leads with rare masters

Christie's first auction in India is set to lead with rare artworks by master painters like M F Husain, V S Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, S H Raza, Tyeb Mehta, and Jamini Roy sourced from personal collection of Mumbai-based gallerists duo, the late Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy.
The sale is scheduled be held in Mumbai on December 13 this year, with a preview exhibition here between December 7-9, the auctioneers said in a statement.
"Together Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, initially through their framing business and later on at Gallery Chemould, prepared the framework for young artists to thrive. The value of their support and patronage to this group is reflected among the works of art in their collection," Hugo Weihe, International Director, Asian Art, Christie's said.

A Husain family portrait, the view by Ram Kumar of the hills near their holiday home and an early Gaitonde landscape are among Ghandy's works set to go under the hammer.
"Each is a tribute to friendships made and the central role that they played in shaping the modern Indian art scene. I will never forget Kekoo's vivid eye and the deep sense of humanity that he exuded, his passion for art and his openness..." Weihe said.
Kekoo Gandhy (1920-2012) ran a highly successful frame company, Chemould, with his Belgian business partner from premises in Princess Street, Mumbai. Alongside the core business he used the space to champion the works of emerging artists of the modern art movement working in the city.

A second shop selling frames and showcasing new art was opened in Kolkata in 1950. In 1963, together with his wife, Khorshed, the Gallery Chemould was opened inside the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai where it still holds exhibitions for emerging Indian artists.

From the late 1940s Kekoo organised the Bombay Art Society Salon exhibition, held monthly, often at the Taj Mahal Palace, where the Christie's sale is set to be held.
An intimate Untitled (Family Portrait) of the Gandhy's by M F Husain portraying the family of Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy with their four children sitting on a horse painted in 1967, is valued at Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh.

A early landscape by Vasudeo S Gaitonde painted in 1949 estimated at Rs 8 lakh to Rs 12 lakh is the first lot in the upcoming sale. An oil painting "Benaras" by Ram Kumar from the 1960s has been pegged to fetch between Rs 35 lakh to Rs 45 lakh.
An acrylic on canvas by Tyeb Mehta from his Mahishasura series is the most expensive art work on sale, estimated to fetch between Rs 7.5 crore to Rs 9.5 crore.
The collection also includes works by Ganesh Pyne, Pilloo Pochkhanawala, Nalini Malani, Nasreen Mohamedi, Anju Dodiya and Arpita Singh.