Works by Francis Newton Souza on offer at Christie’s auction

An auction of paintings and other works by Francis Newton Souza, among India’s most celebrated modern artists, is slated to raise close to $3.4 million as art dealers bet on a recovery in the market.

A separately catalogued collection of over 150 lots of paintings, drawings, sketchbooks and prints by Souza will be on offer at Christie’s International that takes place in London on June 9. The celebrated painter’s works are being offered straight from his estate, the auction house revealed in an e-mailed release.

Respondents in Indian Confidence Report of ArtTactic last year voted Souza as the modern artist most likely to have a market with high importance in a decade. At the peak of the boom in June 2008, his 1955 work ‘Birth’ fetched 1.3 million pounds at Christie’s in London, a new record for a modern Indian art work.

Auction prices for modern & contemporary Indian art have increased and tapered off in a matter of a few turbulent years. According to Artprice, the French-based database, prices for contemporary works rose almost seven-fold between 2000 and 2008.

Average auction modern & contemporary Indian works’ prices are respectively 18 and 63 percent lower than the their peak levels in 2008, stated ArtTactic, the London- based research firm. The founder of ArtTactic, Anders Petterson, was quoted as saying in an interview to Bloomberg:

“There’s been a shift in the market toward the moderns. Not much is happening for contemporary works and there’s a lot of uncertainty about values. Indian buyers are looking for artists of known substance.”

Christie’s senior vice-president, Hugo Weihe, noted in an interview:

“The estimates for the Souza auction will be half the level they were then. We wanted to be able to price the works conservatively to attract new collectors.”