'Sculpted': India's First public Auction of Sculptures and Installations at Saffronart

This 24-Hour auction will featureworks by several notable modern and contemporary sculptors and installation artists from India and South Asia

This is India’s first large, public auction of sculptures, curated by Saffronart

The auction comprises of 45 attractively estimated lots including works by acclaimed artists S. Dhanapal, Himmat Shah, Anish Kapoor, Krishen Khanna, Adeela Suleman, Dhruva Mistry and Mithu Sen

The 24 hour auction will start on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 8.00 pm (India Time), or 10.30 am (US Eastern Time) on www.saffronart.com

Saffronart, the world’s largest online fine-art auction house, presents ‘Sculpted’, fifth in its series of 24-hour online auctions. This auction features 45 lots, including several modern and contemporary Indian sculptures and installations. The auction will begin on August 24, 2011 at 8:00 pm (IST) and will take place online at www.saffronart.com.

India’s artistic heritage is one heavily dominated by sculptural traditions. From the practical and decorative terracotta pieces of the Indus Valley Civilization to the intricate temple art of Mahabalipuram, Konarak and Khajuraho, the renowned Chola and Gupta bronzes, sculpture has flourished in India for several centuries. The geography of modern and contemporary Indian sculpture, like the genres themselves, is played out in multiple dimensions. Not only do sculptors and installation artists defy chronological continuums with their strong moorings in both the past and the future, they undermine the very concept of terra firma as well. It is this unstable ground they stand on - the indefinite spaces between self and situation, home-grown and global, representation and abstraction - that makes modern and contemporary Indian sculpture so unique. In India this is the first auction dedicated to sculpture, and offers collectors an unprecedented opportunity to acquire the work of some globally acclaimed South Asian artists.

In this 24-Hour Auction, Saffronart presents the best of modern and contemporary Indian sculpture and installation art from a range of modern artists who defined the genre, and contemporary artists who continue to stimulate its evolution through their work. The catalogue includes several lots by modern masters like Chintamoni Kar,S. Dhanapal, Sankho Chowdhury, Somnath Hore and Himmat Shah, which illustrate the ways in which these artists pushed the boundaries of material and subject with their sculpted works. Other lots by contemporary practitioners like Anish Kapoor, Anjum Singh, Sumedh Rajendran and Gigi Scaria who work with novel concepts, media, and methods to engage the viewer, underline the fact that these boundaries have now been completely erased.

This new format of auctions, with no print catalogue or preview events and a short burst of online-only marketing, highlights the comfort and confidence which collectors of fine art have in Saffronart’s online platform. Collectors may place bids at Saffronart’s website www.saffronart.com, or via Saffronart’s proprietary Blackberry and iPhone mobile applications.