Two paintings by M F Husain will be offered at an auction for the first time at Sotheby's next month which will also see a host of important works by artists like V S Gaitonde, F N Souza and Jehangir Sabavala going under the hammer.
Hot on the heels of the landmark Amaya Collection, its first evening auction of Indian art, Sotheby's has sourced an exceptional line-up of works - many fresh to the market and with outstanding provenances - for its Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale in London on June 11.
Offered for the first time in this sale, on the centenary year of his birth, Husain's exceptional 1961 oil on canvas 'Jhoola' (estimated at 220,000-250,000 pounds) was acquired directly from the artist during the 1960s. It depicts two women atop a swing (jhoola) which hangs from a tree.
A second work by Husain, 'Elephants One', estimated at 100,000-150,000 pounds is offered for sale for the first time since it was acquired by the owner's husband in New York in 1964, where he was posted as a representative of the Indian delegation to the UN.
Other highlights include Gaitonde's recently discovered masterpiece, the luminous Painting No.1, previously in the collection of the great international champion of Indian art John D Rockefeller III, as well as important works by Souza, Bhupen Khakhar and Sabavala. The sale will also feature exciting works by contemporary Indian and Pakistani artists, including Deutsche Bank's Contemporary Artist of the Year, Mohammad Imran Qureshi.
Yamini Mehta, Sotheby's International Head of South Asian Art, Indian and South Asian Art, commented, "We are thrilled to be presenting a remarkable auction that has been carefully curated with wonderful museum-quality works that are very fresh to the market and come from private collections in India, Europe and America.
"Many of these works are masterpieces coming from their first owners into the market for the first time. It is a sale that offers something for everyone, with exciting estimates and opportunities for new and established collectors to collect fine examples of Indian and Pakistani art from the 20th and 21st centuries."
Souza's 'Christ on Palm Sunday', executed in 1956, is estimated at 200,000-300,000 pounds. Offered for sale for the first time since it was acquired by a Dutch collector in Paris in 1968, S H Raza's 'Black Moon' (est. 50,000-70,000 pounds) is a remarkable painting produced during an important transitional period in the artist's career following his visit to America, where he encountered Abstract Expressionism.
Executed in 1972, Khakhar's 'Air, Steam and Speed,' estimated at 100,000-150,000 pounds, makes its appearance on the market for the first time in over 30 years from an English collection.
Property from a private European collection, Sabavala's Untitled of 1977 is coming to auction for the first time with an estimate of 100,000-150,000 pounds.
