Date:19/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/10/19/stories/2004101901902000.htm

National

Art under the hammer

NEW DELHI, OCT. 18. Sales of Indian contemporary art registered a record value of more than Rs. 8 crores when the works of some of the top names in the field came under the auctioneer's hammer this week, setting a new world record for any single auction.

A splendid array of paintings by Indian artists fetched a total bill value of $1,762,496 in a single evening on October 15, significantly higher than the Rs. 7.2 crores netted in an auction held earlier this year over the Internet in three days in Mumbai.

Largest-ever auction

The auction — the largest ever in the country — was the first to be organised by the Mumbai-based Osian's Connoisseurs of Art in the capital with actor Rajat Kapoor playing the role of the auctioneer.

F.N. Souza's art work titled `Crucifixion,' an oil painting on canvas, sold for a whopping Rs. 53 lakh while his `Stormy Landscape' fetched Rs. 47 lakhs. Maqbool Fida Hussain's oil on canvas `Rani' fetched Rs. 50 lakhs. `Crucifixion' shows the composition of Christ bearing similarity with the wooden dolls and Jagannath pata painting of Puri and the tribal patas of Bengal.

Abanindranath Tagore's famous watercolour and wash on paper painting `Provenance' fetched Rs. 10 lakhs. This has earlier been in the possession of art patrons and connoisseurs such as A.K. Coomaraswamy and former Delhi Lt. Governor A.N. Jha.

Jamini Roy's oil on canvas `Christ' dated 1964-66 brought in a modest Rs. 16 lakh.

Other paintings that had frantic bids including the oils `March'91' and `Patriarch' by Biren De, Jamini Roy's self-portrait in oil on plywood dated 1966 and having a flaking of paint at various places, works of contemporary Indian artists such as Anjolie Ela Menon's `Window Series,' Jatin Das's `Jade Couple,' Bikash Bhattacharya's 'Seated Girl' and Jogen Chowdhury's `Woman with Cut.'

Sculptor Satish Gujral's `Deity' symbolising the material form of Ganesha went for a high Rs. 13.7 lakh, the highest he has ever received for a sculpture anywhere in the world. This sculpture created with burnt wood and mixed media generated great interest.

UNI