Tyeb Mehta's canvas sold for Rs 15 crore at Christie's auction

The Mehta canvas, dating back to 1999, for which the Christie's was expecting a maximum price of Rs 12 cr, got picked up through an online bid from New York

Renowned artist Tyeb Mehta's untitled canvas depicting a falling bull fetched a whopping Rs 15 crore at the second edition of Indian art auction held by the Christie's in Mumbai on Thursday.

The Mehta canvas, dating back to 1999, for which the Christie's was expecting a maximum price of Rs 12 crore, was bought through an online bid from New York. The identity of the buyer was not revealed.

Bidding started at Rs 5 crore and the price kept rising till it reached Rs 14 crore when calls with overseas buyers resulted in longish pauses, before the final bid was made.

The amount paid for the work is the hammer price and excludes buyer's premium and applicable taxes.

The London-based Christie's conducted its first India art auction on December 19 last year, when it sold a work by the late Vasudeo Gaitonde for a record Rs 28 crore, the biggest price ever paid for an Indian painter's work.

The house auctioned 78 lots, down from 83 last year. Other works which fetched high prices included Francis Newton Souza's untitled work depicting an Indian family, sold for Rs 7.5 crore, Mehta's oil on canvas 'Girl in Love' for Rs 3.6 crore and Syed Haider Raza's 'Les Toits de la rue St Jacques' painted in Paris for Rs 3.8 crore.

Rabindranath Tagore's pocket book in Bengali with 270 leaves of manuscript notes, poems, songs, calculations, doodles and drawings fetched Rs 1.7 crore. Other works such as Gaitonde's untitled work painted in 1998 were sold for Rs 5.5 crore.