Summary of South Asian modern & contemporary art auctions

Paintings by acclaimed Indian artists including late Jehangir Sabavala and Maqbool Fida Husain, both of whom died this year, yielded $9.7 million in auctions by Christie’s and Sotheby’s last week as Asian, US and European buyers bid well above estimates.

The sale of South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art courtesy Christie’s in New York was undoubtedly dominated by MF Husain, who died a couple of months ago aged 92. MF Husain in the beginning of his career painted Hindi movie posters. He had no formal training as such in art.

A brief auction report in the International Herald Tribune mentioned: “The auction featured 13 paintings by Husain. All of them were easily sold, fetching $4.2m, only just short of the pre-sale high estimate: all the Husains alone accounted for over half of the overall sale total. Art buyers came from all across the world: the US, Europe and India.

The top lot, ‘Sprinkling Horses’ garnered $1.14m, slightly under $1.2m, which was its top estimate (estimates don’t comprise the buyer’s premium). Overall, the auction sale yielded close to $7.5 million, as 69 percent of the lots on offer sold. A private buyer from the US paid the highest price of $1.1 million for the oil painting.

According to an official statement from the international auction house, the Christie’s sale was worth $7.4 million. A sale by Sotheby’s in New York, on the other hand was worth $2.3 million, the auction house stated in a release.

Painting of a ‘Himalayan Beauty’ by legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma was grabbed for $266,500, almost 80 percent more than its high estimate, by a private European buyer. The famous painting passed though the family collection of Ravi Varma’s German printing technician. The world-renowned self-taught artist from India died in 1906.

The Christie’s sale of 13 Husain works fetched more than $4 million. On the other hand, his works went for close to $557,500 at the Sotheby’s art auction.