Chagall, Dali lead AstaGuru's white-glove International Iconic auction

Auction fetched Rs 53.50 crore, and besides modern masters, included signature-style creations by contemporary artists

International modernists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali and Fernando Botero collectively fetched Rs 53.50 crore at AstaGuru’s two-day auction, ‘International Iconic’, which concluded on November 24. It proved to be a white-glove sale, which means all lots were sold.

The highest-selling work was Marc Chagall's ‘Couple Au Claire De Lune’ (Couple In Moonlight), which went for Rs 12.6 crore. The work exemplifies the artist’s recurring theme of lovers depicted within a dream-like pictorial universe. 

Surrealist master Salvador Dali's ‘L’oeil Fleuri’ was the second-highest selling lot (Rs 11.8 crore). The oil and tempera work spanning almost 13 feet was initially created as a set design for the ballet ‘Tristan Fou’.

H Claude Pissarro's work titled “La Mare Des Grisons Chez Lionel”, meanwhile, sold for over three times its higher estimate at Rs 26,88,630.

Larissa Guimaraes, international art consultant at AstaGuru Auction House, said the auction reflected “the growing space for global art in India and for India in the global art market”.
 

Renoir's oil on canvas portrait titled 'Etude Pour Le Portrait De Coco', showcasing the artist's profound connection with childhood and the unspoiled beauty of the human spirit, went for over Rs 2.33 crore.

Cubist master Pablo Picasso’s ‘Tête De Faune’, a coloured wax and crayon on paper, was acquired for a little over Rs 2.82 crore. 

The auction also included a range of signature-style creations by globally renowned contemporary artists. Among these was a sculpture by Robert Indiana from his Love series, which sold for Rs 4.24 crore, and a work by contemporary artist Takashi Murakami titled 'Panda Cubs, Hoyoyo, Zzzzz', which went for Rs 3.42 crore.