Autumn blues
On a day when a 12th-14th century Green Tara thangka set a world record at Christie’s New York at a whopping Rs 10 crore, India’s modern masters delivered somewhat less rakishly, even though, at a hesitation’s worth over Rs 5 crore, abstractionist V S Gaitonde hit the highest spot with unerring good taste and some predictability. While there’s no doubt that the crore club is up and doing well, in New York the celebrations were somewhat muted as analysts wondered where the record prices that once regularly made newspaper headlines in India, had disappeared. Was the party over?
The glass, half empty for auctioneers, is half-full for collectors who have been hoping to grab their favourites at prices that are not set to a speedometer, even though they can hardly be called soft, with works in the crores popping up like confetti. If Gaitonde was the golden lad this September, he was adequately backed by Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Falling Figure) at Rs 4 crore. Akbar Padamsee scored with Rs 1.35 crore for his Mirror Image, J Swaminathan at Rs 1.15 crore for his Untitled (Lily by My Window), though Raza struggled to get out of his dry patch at Rs 1.35 crore for Ardeche and Rs 1 crore for his Shanti Bindu — this for the artist who holds top value among the moderns, but whose much-hyped estimate of Rs 12.5 crore for Village with Church at a March auction found no taker.
If the September auctions in New York are a bellwether index for Indian art, then M F Husain came back to claim his spot as India’s favourite with the largest body of works by number and by crore value. Though his highest at Christie’s was Rs 3 crore for his Untitled (Horses), he managed to cross the crore figure for at least four other works. At Sotheby’s he managed Rs 1.6 crore for his Dancers Under the Full Moon almost doubling its high estimate, and an Untitled (Woman at Work) can be included on the list for being a blush under Rs 1 crore.
Sotheby’s catalogue, which collectors in India had described as “refreshing”, returned a number of lots unsold, including a Husain from his Maya series that had an estimate value between Rs 2.75-3.9 crore. Raza, with a number of works up for auction, hit the Rs 1 crore mark with only Noel, not quite the bull run that was expected as news of Christie’s Yamini Mehta switching to Sotheby’s filtered through the high street of Indian art, but with Sotheby’s adding muscle to its Indian sales, competition is definitely hotting up.
New York’s fallout will be acutely experienced in India when Saffronart opens its autumn account on September 19-20 with its share of works by Husain (the highest estimated between Rs 1.2-1.5 crore), Raza (Rs 49-60 lakh), Souza (Rs 54-81 lakh for Figure on Red & Green Background), and Ganesh Pyne’s evocative, The Masks at a value estimate between Rs 32-38 lakh.
But Saffronart’s stars at this auction are a rare Untitled (Zebegeny Landscape) by Amrita Sher-Gil, with an estimated value of Rs 3.2-4.3 crore, and another Tyeb Mehta (Falling Figure with Bird) which, at this season’s highest estimate of Rs 8.1-10.8 crore, is the one work punters are pinning their hopes on to set a new record ringing.
Meanwhile, for those who wondered how much Subodh Gupta’s one kilo weight, titled One Kg War, fetched at Christie’s, the realisation was Rs 45 lakh which, given its bullion value of Rs 32 lakh, can be a lot more or a lot less depending on your perspective as either a goldsmith or an art lover — take your pick.
Kishore Singh is a Delhi-based writer and art critic. These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which he is associated