Bonhams and Sotheby's art sales

South Asian modern & contemporary art sale of Sotheby's to be held on May 31 is to be followed by the Bonhams Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art on June 1.

A landscape in oil, entitled ‘The Tree’ by Jehangir Sabavala is estimated at 75,000 pounds at Sotheby's. The serene painting is part of the popular artist's Tungabhadra landscapes series. It was painted in the mid sixties following a visit to south India. He was greatly influenced by the ravishing ruins at Hampi and the stoic starkness and silence of the Tungabhadra river’s artificial lake, bordering Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The auction also includes an untitled canvas work by Manjit Bawa, said to have been inspired by the Rajput and the Pahari style estimated at 100,000 pounds. A monumental sculpture by Subodh Gupta, entitled ‘Hungry God’ is composed of a wavelike mass of stainless steel pans, tiffins and milk pails. There are also two early oil paintings by FN Souza in the Sotheby's upcoming auction.

The Bonhams' sales is representing artists from Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. Many of the works by renowned artists like Sual al-Attar, Ismael Fattah, George Keyt, Fadi Barrage, Husain, Raza and Sadanand K Bakre are new to the market. They have been part of private collections for more than four decades.

The works on offer in the sale present many of eclectic works by Bakre, who was part of the Progressive Artists Group. They cover every significant phase of his career and also include the first sculpture ever to come to auction. In fact, not many of his modernist sculptures have been seen before, one of them housed at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai.

A specialist in Middle East and South Asian art, Katia Vraimakis, who is associated with Bonhams, has been quoted as saying: "Sadanand K Bakre is still relatively undiscovered as an artist. His works are indeed powerful but have not been promoted like many of his contemporaries. The broader market that took a downturn is finally coming back into its own. The best works will continue to draw top prices."