Souza to be the star attraction of ArtDeal auction

In good news for art lovers, an upcoming auction by private auction house ArtDeal will display masters like F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain and many more.

The "Framed Sentiment" auction will be held on Friday at Vivanta by Taj-Ambassador Hotel here.

Indian modern artist Souza's yet to be titled work of a woman covered with skin of a tiger is expected to be the highest bid in the auction, according to Art Deal owner Siddhartha Tagore. The work, which sybmolises passion and raw energy in its purest form, is estimated to go for between Rs.1.5 crore to Rs.2.5 crore.

"As Souza's work broke his earlier records at the recent auction at Saffron art auction house, we are expecting a repeat of the trend. I have a feeling that it will go up than the estimated price," Tagore told IANS.

Another star attraction is a ceramic bowl by Pablo Picasso, a vessel that became the muse of his artwork in 1946 ever since he visited the Madoura pottery workshop in Vallauris.

"This is one of the interesting ceramic work of Picasso which is priced between Rs.8 lakh to Rs.12 lakh," said Tagore.

While Raza's 'window' series is estimated at Rs.70 lakh, Husain's set of four drawings are priced at Rs.4 lakh each.

Works by renowned artists Paritosh Sen, Vivan Sundaram, Zarina Hashmi, Anupam Sud, Shobha Broota, Arpana Caur, and Nalini Malani along with two vibrant abstracts works by noted artist Achuthan Kudallur will also be sold at the auction.

Tagore said that works of emerging artists like Anindita Bhattacharya, and Mousumi Biswas will share space with the masters.

The auction also boasts of unusual works by celebrated Bengal Masters like some early works by Jamini Roy and letters by Nandalal Bose including paper works by Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir and Nikhil Biswas.

Apart from this, etchings by Solyyns (an avid documentation of the Flemish artist Francois Balthazar Solvyns observations' during his stay and travels in Kolkata) will portray contemporary costumes and occupations in the city of joy.

Tagore added that the gallery will set a platform for photographs and digital works with sculptures in various media of wood, fibre and bronze.