Frame of reference

Husains, Souzas, Razas and Gaitondes - at the Bid Art Bull auction, these Indian modern and contemporary masters might be up at competitive prices

There are many who aspire to own an S H Raza canvas but can't imagine shelling out a few crores for it, not when his works attract record prices at auctions. But there's some hope yet. An upcoming auction of Indian modern and contemporary art by Delhi-based Bid Art Bull is trying to make this dream possible for aspiring collectors. "Some reputed galleries have given us works that are perfect for collectors who are beginning their career in art investment," says art critic Uma Nair, curator of the lots to go under the hammer. She says there will be Raza's "important pieces like Naga" on offer, but says "the smaller Razas are the jewels". Including Raza, there are 61 works by artists like Arpita Singh, Amrita Sher-Gil, F N Souza, M F Husain, Krishen Khanna, Jamini Roy, Nandlal Bose and Ram Kumar. "In a market affected by recession, it is important to have realistically priced artworks like these, or one will have a lot of unsold works on one's hand," she says. Kiran Mohan, chief (planning and operations) at the auction house, elaborates on this point. She feels that while the masters can never be slotted in the "very affordable" category, but for the kind and size of some of the works being offered, these are extremely competitively priced.

There have been several auctions recently featuring works by what is called the Progressives - Christie's second auction in India to be held in December is another addition to this list with works by Vasudev Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta and Souza on offer - but people at Bid Art Bull believe that their event is different, the competitive pricing being just one aspect of it. "The works in this auction are strongly supported by carefully researched references in publication and books by the research team. We believe we are setting a new trend in doing so," says Mohan. This is part of their initiative to share knowledge on artists and their styles with young buyers.

For instance, Souza's Transfiguration is mentioned in Francis Newton Souza - Dhoomimal Gallery Collection, and this will be part of the lot to be put up for auction. "For the buyer, this becomes a documentation of provenance and authenticity. It also tells the story of the artwork. If someone buys a work by Husain, the documentation will tell him what style the artist practised in that era as well as other works similar to the one the buyer has bought," says Mohan.

This exhaustive documentation has been created by Bid Art Bull in collaboration with Global Art Hub, an online marketplace for art that creates a connect between the gallery and the buyer. Nakul Dev Chawla, CEO and founder of Global Art Hub, rates the process of scouting for books as stressful, but one that yields extraordinary results. "For this auction, we went through libraries and archives of galleries and institutions. Sometimes, books in which the artworks are mentioned were not available in the market," says Chawla.

On occasion these rare books would turn up in the most unexpected of places. Chawla was on the lookout for Paritosh Sen's Man in Deep Thought but came up against dead ends everywhere. Fortunately, at a party he chanced upon the book at the host's coffee table. "In libraries also, the books are not just lying around. You have to go through the timeline of the artist's works and exhibitions to know what you are looking for. We got a Tagore self portrait [not being offered in this auction] and found it had been exhibited in a retrospective of his art at the Lalit Kala Akademi in the 1960s. After research, we located the catalogue for the event as well as books published in the 1970s that mentioned the piece," he says.

Also, this auction has created a category called 'contemporary masters'. In India, the term 'master' has always been used in reference to the Progressives. "But with the death of masters such as Souza and Husain, there is space for senior contemporary artists in that league," says Mohan. "For instance, Om Prakash Sharma started doing geometrics before Raza sahab but didn't get the same platform. There are collectors who silently collect his work. While he is not a contemporary master yet, there are others like Krishen Khanna who should be addressed as one."

Another unheralded artist featured in the auction is Amarnath Sehgal. "We have a cute little sculpture by him," says Nair. "He was extremely gifted and got some important assignments in the 1960s-70s from the United Nations. All these artists are significant as they marked the beginning of the contemporary art period in India." As part of the auction, two additional works will also be put up to raise funds for the Kashmir flood victims. One is a photograph, "6 Hours in the Water", by Karan Khanna and the other, a threaded landscape by Gunjan Arora and Rahul Jain who were the costume designers for Haider. The proceeds will go to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

Indian Modern and Contemporary Art auction will take place at Ballroom, The Oberoi, New Delhi, on November 16 at 7 pm