Works of Husain, Pakistani artists to be auctioned at Sotheby's

Works of Indian contemporary artists, including two paintings by late M.F. Husain, and Pakistani painters will go under the hammer at Sotheby's in London for its Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale June 11.

The auction will also feature a number of important works by Indian artists like F.N. Souza and Jehangir Sabavala going under the hammer.

Husain's 1961 oil on canvas "Jhoola" was directly acquired from the artist during the 1960s and will be offered for the first time on sale on the centenary year of his birth. The painting shows two women on a swing that hangs from a tree.

His second work, "Elephants One", is also on sale for the first time.

All these paintings will be put up for the second leg of the auction house's South Asian Art sale known as the 'Amaya collection'.

Most of these paintings have been sourced from private collectors in India, Europe and America.

"This auction is carefully curated with wonderful museum-quality works that are very fresh to the market," said Yamini Mehta, international head of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Sotheby's London and New York.

"Many of these works are masterpieces coming from their first owners into the market for the first time. It is a sale that offers something for everyone, with exciting estimates and opportunities for new and established collectors to collect fine examples of Indian and Pakistani art from the 20th and 21st centuries," she added.

Works of renowned Indian artists, like Sayed Haider Raza's "Black Moon", will also be offered for sale for the first time ever since it was acquired by a Dutch collector in Paris in 1968.

Apart from this, famous Pakistani artist Mohammad Imran Qureshi's "Reshape", Farida Batool's "Line of Control" and Nazia Khan's "The Wardrobe" will also go under the hammer.