Highlights of Saffronart’s Summer Auction of Modern & Contemporary Indian Art Sale

Saffronart’s indeed hosts some noteworthy masterpieces of proven provenance and exceptional quality. It includes a wide array of works - paintings, sculptures and installations by top Indian artists like Tyeb Mehta, SH Raza, Jogen Chowdhury, G. Ravinder Reddy, Manjit Bawa, and Jitish Kallat, among others.

• Saffronart notched up total sales of Rs 17.50 crore at its 2011 Summer Auction of Modern & Contemporary Indian Art. The auction was rightly spearheaded by late legend Tyeb Mehta's Untitled canvas (Kali, 1998), incidentally the last work he painted as part of the Kali series. The work’s presale estimate was Rs 1.25-1.75 crore. It sold for a whopping Rs 5.72 crore ($1.31 million.)
  
  
• G Ravinder Reddy's monumental head fetched Rs 1.41 crore, The 1993 canvas by Manjit Bawa, entitled ‘Nayika’, was bought for Rs 1.08 crore. Raza's ‘Carcassonne’ painted in 1951, got Rs 95 lakh. ‘The Bangle Sellers’ by Jehangir Sabavala was bought for Rs 87.5 lakh.
  
  
• About 72% of the lots on offer sold out. Close to 53% did manage to exceed their higher estimate range. Six lots, including Ravinder Reddy, Tyeb Mehta, SH Raza, Jehangir Sabavala and Manjit Bawa ,auctioned over the $200,000 mark.
  
  
• Other contemporary highlights of the auction catalogue were iconic ‘Gopika’ by G. Ravinder Reddy from 2003; bindis & velour fabric done on painted wooden panel (‘Rugged Terrain’, 2007) by Bharti Kher; and an important painting (‘War Dance’) by Jitish Kallat.
  
  
• A healthy percentage of lots in the sale easily surpassed their high estimate, indicating the increasing appetite of collectors for quality works. There is a sentiment that monumental pieces of Indian art are now turning into a valuable asset class. Their increasing prices at major international auctions continue to strike a higher peak and solidify their legitimacy as a good investment proposition.

The Saffronart director, Dinesh Vazirani, was quoted as saying, "Several factors did work in getting Tyeb Mehta's Untitled work the price tag it finally fetched. The work is relatively rare, quite aesthetic. It enjoys excellent provenance. Comparatively smaller format painting, it swung a huge price owing to concerted and strong bidding."