07 September,2016 08:36 AM IST | | Dipanjan Sinha
Paintings from 1950-70 by luminaries, who defined modernism in India, will be up for auction in Delhi. Mumbaikar's can bid online
Stellar works of Akbar Padamsee, VS Gaitonde, SH Raza, KG Subramanyan and Nasreen Mohamedi will all be under one roof in an auction of modern art, Masterpieces of Indian Modernism in Delhi on September 8, which can be accessed online by people from all over. The sale by Saffronart, which is its biggest of the year, will feature 87 works with a total value of Rs 62 - 87.8 crores. The focus of the sale is Indian modern art between 1950s to 70s and the masters that emerged from that era.
Akar Padamsee's Greek landscape to be on auction for the first time
Hugo Weihe, CEO of Saffronart, while shedding light on the auction, points out that the sale includes exceptional and rare masterpieces. It also sheds more light on the depth of talent during the golden period of modernism in India in the '50s and '60s. "We have placed particular emphasis on sourcing rare and unusual works that provide new insights and surprises. With the recent passing of SH Raza and KG Subramanyan, this catalogue is also dedicated to them and their extraordinary achievements," he explains.
Leading the auction bid are works by Akbar Padamsee and VS Gaitonde. Padamsee's Greek Landscape (1960), an imagined cityscape painted in a palette of varying intensities of grey, attracted attention for its revolutionary approach and monumental scale, when it was first exhibited at the Jehangir Art Gallery. It also earned critical acclaim from leading art critics of the time, and found admiration among his contemporaries, including MF Husain and Krishen Khanna. This painting that established Padamsee as a master and an icon of modernism will be up for auction for the first time. It is estimated at Rs 7 - Rs 9 crores.
F N Souza's Christ on Palm Sunday; an untitled painting of VS Gaitonde
Another highlight, VS Gaitonde's Untitled (1970) is an oil on canvas painting that he created at a time when he had moved into his most lyrically abstract phase. Architect and friend of Gaitonde, Narendra Dengle once wrote that in works such as the lot on auction, "the entire work appeared like a dance of colours on canvas."
The auction will feature 87 works worth a total value of Rs 62- Rs 87.8 crores
This painting is estimated at Rs 10 - Rs 15 crores. The sale will also feature paintings by artists like KG Subramanyan, Nasreen Mohamedi and Gaganendranath Tagore, among others.
On September 8, 7.30 pm
At www.saffronart.com
