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Sotheby’s London – “Secondary” Artists the Next Hot Trend? (May 24, 2007)
Works by PAG masters took a backseat to India’s “second tier” contemporary artists at Sotheby’s London 24 May The Indian Sale, in what may be becoming an aggressive shift in this genre. While still garnering hefty prices, many works by Souza, Husain, and the like were passed, with collectors focusing on less-legendary Indian painters.
The morning session opened with ten illustrations from the 18th and 19th centuries, with most falling in line with their pre-sale estimate ranges of $6,000 - $14,000* (two passed). Next up were six Jamini Roys’, who continues to sell very well—final sale prices ranged from $23,808 - $47,616, with an average of $35,317.
Indications of a new trend emerged early with Mukul Chandra Dey’s Indian Life and Legends doubling estimates, selling for $30,956, and K.C. S. Paniker’s oil on canvas Love quadrupling estimates, going for $66,662. Later in the auction, two untitled Shanti Dave paintings went down for $21,420 and $25,704; two Sakti Burman works likewise did very well—his Village Enchante for a spectacular $171,393 and an untitled work for $114,293. Badri Narayan’s The Virgin and the Unicorn sold for a solid $26,186.
To add more proof to the proverbial pudding, Rameshwar Broota’s oil on canvas Unidentified Soldier sold for $214,276, far surpassing the $40,000 - $60,000 estimate; two B. Phabha’s for $61,911 and $33,335; an untitled work by Ambadas for $47,631; and Bikash Bhattacharjee’s Red Balloon for $202,352.
The high interest and heavy bidding carried through to Sotheby’s conclusion—An untitled Sohan Qadri went for $30,960; Satish Gujral’s Ganesha for $40,487; an untitled work by Sheela Gowda for $66,685; Sidharth’s Jeth for $47,630; Justin Ponmany’s Clenched Fist 1 for $35,720, Sudhansu B. Sutar’s Bollywood for $21,434; and an untitled Jagannath Panda for $40,486.
Although paintings by the renowned Progressive Artists’ Group continue to sell well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, this market may have cooled somewhat, with five Souzas’, three Razas’ two Aras’, two Husains’, and a Mehta not reaching their estimates. An untitled Gaitonde—with a high-end price tag of a million dollars—also did not sell. Overall, 43 lots of the 166 up for auction were passed, with total sales figures topping out at a respectable $5,683,678.
The third and final London May 2007 auction, like the two preceding it this week, suggests that Indian contemporary art may be entering a new phase. While the market remains hot, buyers may be getting squeezed out of owning the big-name artists, settling instead for the next best thing—perhaps the torch is being passed to India’s next generation.
*All prices quoted include Buyer’s Premium. They have been converted from United Kingdom pounds to United States dollars using live mid-market exchange rates as calculated on 5/24/07. Because of currency fluctuations, the USD amounts as stated may have changed since the time of this writing
