The Garden of Epics –Indian Court Paintings

Christie’s led the market in the sale of art from India this week in a group of sales totaling £5,774,850 ($8,991,441) and which were 80% sold. The latest sale of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art realized £4,377,100 ($6,815,144), a press release revealed.

The series began on 11 June 2013 at the company’s South Kensington avenue, where a private collection of Indian court paintings, entitled ‘The Garden of Epics’, made £494,625 ($770,131). It was followed by the Arts of India sale which totaled £903,125 ($1,406,165) that included a large selection of fine classical paintings, from 17th century Mughal portraits to Rajput, Pahari and Company school paintings. Fine decorative and courtly objects illustrated the breadth and wealth of Indian art, spanning centuries of the sub-continent’s history.

‘The Garden of Epics –Indian Court Paintings’, a curated selection of forty-five paintings from a private collection, featured rare and important examples of Pahari paintings, together with Rajput and Mughal works. Hugo Weihe, International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s, commented: “Maintaining our dominant position across all categories of Indian art, the sales over the last two days continue to demonstrate Christie’s pre-eminence in offering the best works from India at auction. The sale included important works with great provenance which were appreciated by a large group of established and new collectors.”

Christie’s is among the world's leading art business. It had global auction and private sales in 2011 that totaled £3.6 billion/$5.7 billion. Sandhya Jain-Patel, Associate Vice President and Co-Head of Sale & Romain Pingannaud, Head of Department, Christie’s South Kensington and Co-Head of Sale, stated: “This carefully curated sale of Indian court paintings attracted interest from around the world. Both new and seasoned connoisseurs recognised the quality, rarity and beauty of these works, and competed eagerly to acquire them. We look forward to offering more paintings in New York in September during our sale of Indian and Southeast Asian Art.” 

The auction house is now looking forward to the next series of sales in this category to be held in New York in September.