The highest value sale of South Asian art at an auction globally was achieved on Saturday in a white glove sale of ₹355.77 crore ($40.2 million) held in Delhi by auction house Saffron Art.
The evening sale, which concluded shortly before midnight, saw records broken for modern Indian artists Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde, Francis Newton Souza, and Tyeb Mehta, as well as contemporary artist Nalini Malani.
The untitled oil on canvas made in 1971 by Gaitonde fetched ₹67.08 crore, breaking his previous record of ₹42 crore, which sold at an auction conducted by Mumbai-headquartered auction house Pundole’s, in 2022.
This makes it the second-highest selling work of art made by an Indian artist following M.F Husain’s 1954 Gram Yatra which sold for ₹118 crore at a Christie’s auction earlier this year.
Nalini Malani, whose works are rooted in performance, mythology and a searing feminist lens, made a series of reverse paintings on acrylic sheet in 2008 using ink and enamel. The series titled Nursery Tales, depicted the strain of violence that underpinned fairytales. One of the works sold for ₹3.6 crore ($406,780), the highest value achieved by the artist in an auction worldwide.
A series of six pen and ink works by Francis Newton Souza sold for ₹20.4 crore ($2.3 million). Titled ‘Six Gentlemen of Our Times’, Souza made these sketches in 1955, after he had migrated to London following his exit from the Communist Party of India. It was around this time, as an Indian artist trying to break into the British art world in post-war Europe that he fashioned a “distinctive type of male head,” critic Geeta Kapur writes, “a combined portrait of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, sly, evil and at the same time terrified.”
Trussed Bull by Tyeb Mehta fetched a neat sum of ₹56.4 crore ($6.3 million). The artist often returned to the motif, the imposing yet tied up bull representing the anguish of potential held captive. This work was one of Mehta’s first major trussed bull paintings, which he made on his return from London in 1954, and exhibited for the first time in Gallery 59, a famous if short-lived gallery opened by artist and collector Bal Chhabda.
Saffron Art, which completes 25 years this year, held its evening sale on September 27.
“Our 25th Anniversary sale set a historic milestone, achieving the highest value sale of South Asian art at an auction globally, surpassing the record we set in April by 62 percent,” said Minal Vazirani, co-founder and president of the auction house.
“Tonight’s result is a landmark moment for Saffronart and for modern Indian art. The auction brought together an extraordinary selection of works, and collectors responded to the rare opportunity of acquiring works of art historical importance with tremendous enthusiasm. This sale has set a new benchmark for the Indian art market and tonight’s outstanding result reaffirms Saffronart’s leadership in the South Asian art market for over 25 years,” Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart CEO and Co-Founder, said.
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