Pricing benchmarks for the upcoming Indian art auctions

In his latest column, Kishore Singh of The Business Standard mentions of ‘record time in London’. According to him, the estimates for the upcoming auctions are setting the rumor mills agog over the market revival. The columnist elaborates:

"A shift in interest is evident in the prices of late Bhupen Khakhar often referred to as India’s David Hockney, whose ‘Republic Day’ sold at Bonhams for Rs 81 lakh (three times the higher estimate), and whose Untitled work at the Christie’s auction has an estimated value between Rs 68 lakh and Rs 1 crore. "

Here is a compilation of his succinct observations on Indian art pricing benchmarks ahead of the upcoming auctions:

- SH Raza’s Saurashtra has got a scorching estimate in the range of Rs 8.8- Rs 12.27 crore at the Christie’s. ‘Extraordinarily valued’, it could cause prices for other Raza works commensurately harden as he is already outselling MF Husain in both volume and prices.

-The rising eminence of the top contemporaries is noteworthy. Bharti Kher’s massive work, entitled ‘The Skin Speaks a Language Not Its Own’ for Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London is estimated in the range of Rs 5.4 - Rs 8.1 crore. If it can reach the estimated value, the artist will be able to ‘inject an adrenaline shot into the market for her peers’ single-handedly, the writer notes.

- Though he remains popular, prices have fallen for Subodh Gupta. His ‘Chimta’ installation put up for sale at Christie’s has been modestly priced between Rs 1.3 crore – Rs 2 crore. His Untitled painting on the subject of displacement and migration dealt with through bundles on airport trolleys, suitcases and taxis has a price estimate of Rs 1 crore – Rs 1.2 crore at the Sotheby’s auction in London.