From big-ticket works to bargains and antiques the spring auctions are hoping to bring the buzz back into the market.
As many as 46 works by F N Souza are on auction this month, a pointer to his continuously rising importance and prolific brush. Nineteen of those works, including an unusual Beasts of Prey (estimated value between Rs 92 lakh-1.4 crore), will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York on March 23, followed a day later by five works at Sotheby’s, also in New York. On March 20, in Mumbai, nine drawings and two mixed media works by Souza will form part of Osian’s Masterpieces Series, but the real treasures are at the Saffronart sale on March 10 and 11, when 11 Souzas will enter the market, the most expensive of which is Decomposing Head at Rs 90 lakh-1.12 crore.
These auctions will set prices for this year’s art market in which 88-year-old S H Raza is leading the race with his Gestation (Christies, Rs 2.75-3.70 crore), Germination (Osian’s, Rs 1.2-1.8 crore) and Prakriti Purush (Saffronart, Rs 81-99 lakh) series, and La Mer (Sotheby’s, Rs 46-69 lakh). Raza’s day out is a pointer to how the four auction houses have gone about their pricing — while Christie’s seems to have pushed the envelope, Saffronart and Sotheby’s have decided to stay soft, and Osian’s has hardened prices.
An interesting indication of who is hot comes from artists common to the four auctions, and Akbar Padamsee appears the top contender with Jeune femme aux cheveux noirs, la tete inclinee at Christie’s, estimated at Rs 1.2-1.6 crore; Christ at Osian’s for Rs 84 lakh-1.26 crore; Head at Saffronart between Rs 40-50 lakh; and Untitled at Sotheby’s for Rs 37-56 lakh. At the other end of the spectrum is Rekha Rodwittiya who has scored a bull’s eye with works ranging from Rs 7-10.5 lakh (Sharing Secrets, Christie’s), to Rs 7-8 lakh (Once Upon a Time, Saffronart) and Rs 16-24 lakh (for a work of mixed media on paper, Osian’s).
Osian’s auction appears to have an uneven quality (Bikash Bhattacharjee’s of Portrait of Mrs Jyoti Thapar, Rs 36-54 lakh, among “masterpieces” that include Ganesh Pyne’s Death, Rs 30-45 lakh , and a Raja Ravi Varma coronation scene, Rs 36-54 lakh, being a mystery), but it does offer one of only two Tyeb Mehtas this March (a Mahishasura triptych, Rs 2.4-3.6 crore). The other Mehta is less remarkable and part of European émigré Emmanuel Schlesinger’s collection of modern Indian art, which is on sale at Sotheby’s, with the painting priced between Rs 46-56 lakh. V S Gaitonde is being offered only by Christie’s (Untitled, Rs 1.6-2.3 crore; Blue Abstract, Rs 1.2-1.6 crore), while M F Husain has multiple offerings at Christie’s (Sita Hanuman in particular, Rs 2.75-3.7 crore), Saffronart (Untitled, Rs 90 lakh-1.2 crore), Sotheby’s (Untitled, Rs 37-56 lakh) as well as serigraphs at Osian’s.
The only contemporary competing for the big ticket remains Subodh Gupta whose Doot with the familiar white Ambassador is priced at Rs 81 lakh-1.08 crore, above his installation of stainless steel utensils which has an estimated value of Rs 35-45 lakh. Both works are being auctioned by Saffronart, though contemporaries at Sotheby’s include Raqib Shaw, Ravinder Reddy, Riyas Komu and, for the first time, a work by the emerging duo Thukral & Tagra (Untitled, Rs 9.5-14 lakh).
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BRINGING INDIA BACK
On March 23 and 24, Christie’s and Sotheby’s will auction antiquities ranging from Gandhara heads and reliquaries to Gupta statuary, sandstone and gilt bronze figures, miniature and Company School paintings, thangkas, picchavais, panels, bronzes, folios, reliefs and stuccos. These are the first major collections to come up for auction following a notification that permits the import of Indian antiquities on payment of duty + levies estimated at 18 per cent.
Bronze figures are among the highlights at Christie’s and include a 13th century Kunzang Akhor from Nepal (Rs 2.8-3.7 crore), a Vijanagara Uma from the same period (Rs 1.9-2.8 crore), a Chola Balakrishna from the 12th century (Rs 70 lakh-1.2 crore) and a 15th century Tibeto-Chinese Tara (Rs 56-83 lakh).
An interesting find is an ivory altarpiece “rescued” from an auction of furniture. It consists of a Durga Mahishasuramardini tableau (presented to Queen Victoria by Nawab Clive of Murshidabad) and displayed at the Art Treasures Exhibition in Manchester. At Rs 9.5-15 lakh it’s a rare treasure — but authorities could play spoilsport since import of ivory antiquities is restricted in India.
At Sotheby’s, the main highlights represent the grand tradition of subcontinental art with a gilt copper alloy Buddha from Tibet (Rs 1.15-1.6 crore), a granite Sridevi from the Chola period (Rs 92 lakh-1.4 crore) and a standing Buddha stucco from the Kushan period (Rs 55 lakh-82 lakh).
These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which the writer is associated.
