Maturing of art appreciation

Christie's debut auction has discerning bidders competing hungrily, confirming this market's long-term potential

The grand Crystal Room at the 110-year-old Taj Mahal & Palace hotel in Mumbai was abuzz with excitement. Filled with potential bidders (mostly Indians and a smattering of foreign nationals), this sprawling space done up in whites and browns happened to be the venue for international auction house Christie's debut sales in India.

The auction featured 83 lots, with art works by modern masters such as S H Raza, Tyeb Mehta, V S Gaitonde and F N Souza, along with a section on 'national treasures' which included paintings by Rabindranath, Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil and Nandalal Bose. The piece de resistance was from the personal collection of Mumbai-based gallerists Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy.

The event started on a high note with the first item on sale, Gaitonde's Untitled Landscape, selling for a whopping Rs 80 lakh, as opposed to the estimated price of Rs 8-12 lakh. Considering the interest generated internationally in the artist, with Guggenheim organising a Gaitonde retrospective next fall, it came as no surprises that his untitled yellow oil on canvas from 1979 was sold for Rs 20.5 crore. With this sale, Gaitonde's art work surpasses Raza's Saurashtra as the highest priced work by an Indian artist. "Gaitonde is a brilliant modern artist. Its so nice to know that he is finally getting his due," says Kishore Singh, publication and exhibition head, Delhi Art Gallery.

Potential buyers bid hungrily and competitively as Raza's Bindu-Genese sold for Rs 90 lakh (estimated price was between Rs 80 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore).

Telephone bidders proved a tough match for the galaxy of collectors present at the crystal room. Tyeb Mehta, as always, fetched high figures with his iconic Mahishasura fetching Rs 17 crore (pre-sale estimate of Rs 7.5-9.5 crore). His Falling Figure was also sold for Rs 8.2 crore, as compared to the estimated price of Rs 3-5 crore, with the auctioneer egging on a phone bidder.

Bids poured in online as well, from Massachusetts to Bangalore. The surprise sale of the evening was an untitled art work by Ganesh Pyne, sold for Rs 2.3 crore against the meagre pre-sale estimate of Rs 20-25 lakh, a record price for the artist. Also, a pen, ink and pastel work series by Pilloo Pochkhanawala was among the most appreciated pieces, earning Rs 16 lakh versus an estimated Rs 1 lakh, a 1,500 per cent premium.

However, some paintings by Jamini Roy and a portrait by M F Husain were withdrawn, to be retained by the Gandhy family.

Attended by corporate honchos and gallerists, the auction was expected to fetch a total of $6-8 million in sales. "Christie's brings authenticity and a better curatorial process. However, I believe the prices are nearly 30 per cent higher than the last few auctions and the secondary market," said Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG Enterprises, during an exclusive interview a day earlier. However, the buyers clearly don't seem to mind, as is evident from most art works fetching more than their estimated prices.

Coming of age
The auction also confirms that the Indian market is maturing, with "collectors now able to distinguish prominent art works from lesser ones," said Hugo Weihe, international director of Asian art, Christie's. On the international platform, Indian artists, especially the modern masters, have been doing exceedingly well. In 2002, Mehta's Celebration triptych sold for $317,500, thus making him the first artist to sell for more than Rs 1 crore. Raza's Saurashtra had fetched a whopping price, too, of Rs 16.42 crore at Christie's sale in London in 2010, while 140 lots from Souza's estate fetched prices several times the Christie's estimates.

On the domestic front, barring a couple of domestic players in the business of auctioneering, it is the international houses that attract domestic buyers as well. For instance, in 2008, Tina Ambani's Harmony Arts Foundation acquired Souza's Birth for Rs 11.3 crore at a Christie's international auction. However, with the debut auction in India, people are hopeful that this might change.

Even with the buoyant mood created by this event, the estimated total sales from the auction still seem a bit modest when it comes to Christie's performance in the international market. Its first auction in mainland China in September this year resulted in sales of $24.9 million for 39 paintings, sculpture, jewellery, watches and wine. Eeven this seems tepid compared to the historic $495 million sale of postwar and contemporary works by artists such as Asawa, Basquiat, Guston, Lichtenstein, Manzoni and Pollock, making this the highest total in auction history.

However, Thursday's sales have brought the focus back on India as a promising emerging market. According to Anders Pettersonn, founder and managing director of London-based art market analyst firm ArtTactic, international collectors are carefully watching India. "Many got scared during the speculative years between 2006 and 2008 but most people see a long-term potential for this market and I guess this is the reason why Christie's have decided to build a physical presence in India," he said.