 "Christie's aims at tightly curated auctions that are of museum quality: Sonal Singh")
At its past auctions in India, Christie's has celebrated modern and contemporary artists such as V S Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta and M F Husain. This year, as part of its third India sale, the auction house has extended its repertoire to include classical art as well. This extended sale offering commemorates the 20th anniversary of Christie's presence in India and attempts to cater to the rising interest in Indian classical art among collectors. Sonal Singh, head of department (South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art) at Christie's, speaks to Avantika Bhuyan about the highlights of the upcoming auction
What were the factors that led to the expansion of the sale to include classical art?
From our very first auction that was held in 2013, we had a desire to be dedicated to the Indian market. The next step was to expand and the logical thing to do was to expand to classical art. We have a number of buyers and collectors, both internationally and in India, interested in this genre. So, this expansion was done keeping the client's interest in mind as well.
I believe that this auction results from the March auction of the Robert Hatfield Ellsworth collection in New York, which had significant Himalayan and classical pieces and encouraged Christie's India to make this inclusion.
Well, we have seen consistent interest from Indian collectors in our sales abroad. Ellsworth was a big sale and a fantastic collection. We found a lot of our Indian collectors bidding and buying there. It encouraged us to think about including classical art for the Indian auction for the very first time. When you hold an auction in India, it changes the game a bit as collections are sourced from within the country. Some of these are national treasures so nothing can be exported. We are confident of the segment doing well here.
What are the highlights from the upcoming auction? Could you share some stories behind the sourcing of some of these collections?
Christie's has one auction a year in India, so we always have a wishlist. In India, we know what people are looking for - national treasures like Tagores, Amrita Sher-Gil, Gaitonde, et cetera. So the makeup of the sale is slightly different from the international ones. We are on the road all the time and hence can feel the pulse of what people are looking for. We aim at tightly curated auctions that are of museum quality. So, this year, we have 40 works of modern and contemporary art, including a key Gaitonde painting from 1995. Interestingly, this time we have got three collections from artists - Indra Dugar, Dhirendra Krishna Deb Burman and Lalita Lajmi. The latter was close to painters like Nasreen Mohamedi and has great works representing the Mumbai and Baroda schools of art.
In 2013, auctioning 53 works from the Gandhy collection was a great opportunity for us. This time too, we have something like that - a great collection of Dhurandhars from a royal family. Then at the heart of the miniature paintings selection is a group that comes directly from the ancestral collections of the Maharajas of Bikaner and is a reminder of how cosmopolitan Bikaner was in its heydey.
Each year, the auctions make headlines for record prices. What do they offer for the new or the aspiring collector?
Our estimates begin at Rs 1.5 lakh and go up to Rs 12 crore. So there's a broad range of prices for anyone looking at collecting art. We encourage people to see and that's why we hold previews - more you see, more you learn. Museums in India are still at a development stage, but there are some like the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art that put together strong collections. At our auctions too, we bring together a strong group of artists, so there is a good opportunity to see a bit of everything, Moreover, collecting could be anything - textiles, coins, sculptures. That's the best part about being a collector, your interests could be extremely diverse. For instance, at Christie's itself, we have 80 categories of auctions, so there's a lot to choose from.
Christie's third India sale will be held in Mumbai on December 15
