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Spring Breeze Blows a Different Direction at Christie’s NYC Auction (Mar 21, 2007)
Those who convened for the March 21st morning session of Christie’s “Modern and Contemporary Indian Art” auction may have witnessed a bit of a new trend as 2007 sales began full-force at Rockefeller Center in New York. Although some Progressive artists’ work sold as well as anticipated, others did not—none failed to reach the million-dollar mark, while many others were passed. What seemed to shift was the impressive numbers garnered by the Masters’ work not of oil on canvas, while the early spring sun shone particularly bright on those not named Souza or Mehta.
The sale began impressively for the five Jamini Roy gouaches up for bid. Estimated from $3,000 to $12,000, prices went from $15,600 to $31,200, with an average of the five just over $20,000. Hemendranath Mazumdar’s Shilpi doubled the estimate and sold for $90,000; Vasantasena by Raja Ravi Varma (who died in 1906) also came in very high at $420,000.
By Lot 10, the change in the air was perceptible. A tempera on paper by K. K. Hebbar, estimated at $8,000 to $12,000 went for $28,800; an oil on canvas by the same artist for $78,000. Next up were four F. N. Souza works—while three of them were withdrawn, his Untitled (Black Nude) sold for $420,000. Other PAG works then followed, and did well. Ram Kumar’s Landscape I surpassed estimates with bidding stopping at $228,000, S. H. Raza’s Emergence at $156,000, his Untitled (Abstract Town) and Blue both at $216,000, and another untitled work at $480,000. An untitled Jagdish Swaminathan sold for $312,000, two Akbar Padamsee’s for $264,000, and M. F. Husain’s Jaisalmer for $228,000. The star of this auction was an untitled V. S. Gaitonde work that sold for $768,000; the Gaitonde that followed for $408,000--over twice the estimate.
Lots 33, 34, and 35--three works by Satish Gujral—may have set the heady tone for the rest of the auction as far as works by younger artist went. The untitled oils on canvas just mentioned sold for $31,200, $50,400, and $60,000, respectively, far surpassing expectations. This wind of change continued throughout the remainder of the sale, with works selling very, very well by B. Prabha ($38,400), Biren De ($54,000), Sakti Burman ($31,200), Anjolie Ela Menon ($90,000), Rameshwar Broota ($186,000), two Bhupen Khakhars’ ($18,000) and ($156,000), Manjit Bawa ($216,000),Ravinder Reddy ($312,000), Anju Dodiya ($72,000), Baiju Parthan ($54,000), Jitish Kallat ($57,600), and T. V. Santhosh ($45,600). Prices for these and other second and third generation painters may be the next big thing in Indian contemporary and modern art, escalating as rapidly as the PAG masters have in recent years.
Speaking of whom, while prices for their oils may have somewhat stabilized at least on this day, their works in other mediums did sell quite well with an untitled Jogen Chowdhury ink, pastel, and mixed media on paper going for $50,000, an M. F. Husain Untitled (Horses) acrylic on fabric for $33,600 and a Husain acrylic on paper for $31,200. The gavel fell on two bronzes—Tree Spirit 2 by Dhruva Mistry and an untitled Himmat Shah—at $19,200 and $78,000.
In total, 25 lots were passed, including 4 Souzas, 3 Husains, 3 Padamsees, 3 Kumars, 2 Avinash Chandras, 2 Krishna Shamrao Kulkarnis, 2 Ganesh Pynes, 2 Razas, a Jagdish Swaminathan, a Broota, and a Chowdhury. Perhaps most surprising that went unsold was Tyeb Mehta’s Diagonal XV, which had a pre-sale price tag of $750,000 - $1,000,000.
On a positive note, Husain’s Woman with Veena went for $132,000 with the money donated to Pratham UK and NGO charities aimed at eradicating illiteracy in India. Total sales for the 119 lots available were $8,593,080. Overall, it was a great spring day for Indian art collectors in general and for the new tier artists in particular. Tomorrow, Sotheby’s will be holding their New York auction. It will be interesting to see how the wind will blow there.
