Prices as a whole seem to be strengthening

Though prices for masters have come down in the last couple of years, and the same has happened for contemporaries, the June 2010 auction series could set a new benchmark, signaling the revival of Indian art market. According to Kishore Singh of The Business Standard, Raza is clearly going to outshine the masters, managing to stay well ahead of others in the same bracket. Elaborating on this aspect, he states:

“At the Sotheby’s sale an abstract but luminous work from 1966, entitled ‘January 24’, is estimated between Rs 2 - Rs 3.4 crore, the same as his ‘Rajasthan’ (1981). Among comparable works by his peers like Tyeb Mehta’s ‘Falling Bird’ estimated in the range of Rs 2.7 - Rs 4 crore, and MF Husain’s Untitled painting depicting Arjuna and Krishna between Rs 3.4 crore - Rs 4.7 crore."

While prices as a whole seem to be strengthening, market players are hoping that the glut of Rabindranath Tagores and Souzas at least will mean that their prices will not harden since there are no less than 153 lots comprising 573 works by the latter at the Christie’s auction (from the Souza Estate). The Souza drawings are not likely to breach barriers the way his paintings tend to. Instead, they could end up providing collectors with ‘a plenitude’, the expert observes:

“Gallery owners, in particular, could be salivating over the rich array available in some lots. There is the expectation that the numbers will keep prices in check — many works may go between Rs 70,000 and Rs 1 lakh; most would
remain sub-Rs 10 lakh.”

There are 12 works by Tagore at the Sotheby’s sale. While this may seem a minuscule number compared to the Souzas, the fact that they happen to be ‘national treasures’, means there might be a frantic bidding for these works. Their prices are in the range of Rs 17- Rs 20 lakh.