Saffronart to host two live auctions of Indian art

Modern master S H Raza's 1951 work leads the sale of artworks by iconic masters by Indian auction house Saffronart, which is also auctioning works by contemporary artists in a seperate sale on the same day.
"A live Contemporary Day sale beginnnig at 4 pm IST, is a no reserve auction featuring 70 lots by some of the most sought after names in contemporary art and will be followed by works of well known modern masters in the live Modern Evening Sale at 7.30 pm IST," auctioneers said in a statement today.
Both auctions are scheduled to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel here and bidding can be done at the venue as well as over phone and through the online site of the auctionhouse which would be streaming a live webcast of the auction.

Raza's work titled "Haut De Cagnes" is a landscape done in his rigid, geometric representation, of French towns and villages in the early 1950s. The work is estimated between RS 3 crore to Rs 5 crore (USD 500,000-USD 833,335).
Also featuring is a painting by Rabindranath Tagore, first published as late as 1983 and estimated at fetch between Rs 1. 5 crore -Rs 2 crore (USD 250,000 - USD 333,335).
"This may be a portrait of Tagore's beloved elder sister-in-law Kadambari Devi, who shocked young Rabindranath with her suicide in 1884 and became the central character in his famous novella, Nashtanirh (The Broken Nest), filmed as Charulata. It is believed that the portrait bears resemblance to a photograph of Kadamabari," the auctioneers said.

The evening sale also includes works by masters like Jamini Roy, Nandalal Bose, Hemendranath Majumdar, and the Progressives F N Souza, M F Husain, Sadanand Bakre, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar and Tyeb Mehta.

Meanwhile highlights from the contemporary day sale include a four and a half foot G Ravinder Reddy large head sculpture of a contemporary Indian woman is estimated at Rs 40 lakhs to Rs 60 lakhs (USD 66,670 - USD 100,000).
Atul Dodiya's "Donald, Dona and Dr. D" a 2005 enamel paint and synthetic varnish on laminate board has been estimated between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 35 lakh. (USD 41,670- USD 58,335).

Also in the auction is a video installation by Gigi Scaria titled, Pan(i)city. Other contemporary artists are Anju Dodiya, Nataraj Sharma, Mithu Sen, Thukral and Tagra as well as Anandajit Ray.
"Looking at the excitement that our first live auction generated in September last year, we decided to stage two exceptional live auctions in Mumbai, taking place back to back," Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder, Saffronart said.
While there are 70 lots in the contemporary artists' day sale there are a total of 77 lots in the evening sale of works by modern masters.