Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, other modern masters return with AstaGuru's auction

Three untitled masterpieces by V S Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta will be part of a prized collection of 30 works by modern Indian artists that will be auctioned online by AstaGuru on March 30 and 31. Also going under the hammer will be some never-before auctioned creations by artists such as K H Ara, M F Husain, Rabindranath Tagore, Gagendranath Tagore, among others.
 
Two of Gaitonde’s monumental oil on canvases, from 1970 and 1971, are estimated at Rs 13 crore-16 crore and Rs 12 crore-15 crore, whereas Mehta’s painting is pegged at Rs 12 crore-16 crore.
 
Gaitonde’s paintings — one reflecting earthy tones with bright specks of orange, and the other an interplay of black forms against a grey background — are framed horizontally. The works are from a highly productive and experimental phase in the celebrated modernist’s career during which his style veered completely towards abstraction.
 
His paintings from the 1970s embody principal technical methodologies as well as ideologies of Zen Buddhism that he had adopted as an artist over the last decade. He had completely shifted from the horizontal format to working on large vertical compositions, which he adopted for the rest of his career as his paintings took on a monochromatic palette.

Krishen Khanna, Concerning a Drowned Girl, 1971

 
Mehta was an extremely self-critical artist, who chronicled the challenges that one confronts in life with elegance and poise, says AstaGuru CEO Tushar Sethi. His 1981 painting “demonstrates an ongoing drama with the human figure having been placed within a flat dimension,” he adds.
 
The painting acts as a transitional piece and a precursor to Mehta’s later explorations with the themes of the rickshaw-puller that became an important subject of his oeuvre.

Hemendranath Mazumdar, Untitled, circa 1940

 
Bose Krishnamachari, artist and president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, says that the “fantastic collection” for this auction is crowned by Gaitonde and Mehta’s works. “In the last one year, online business, internationally and in India, has been excellent. However, people are also curious about physical auctions and exhibitions, as social gathering is important for cultural development,” he says, adding that the offline world of art will make a comeback soon.

Jogen Chowdhury, Story of Woman, 2013

 
While the high-value lots are by Gaitonde and Mehta, the auction — a biannual event in AstaGuru’s calendar — will also feature artworks by Jogen Chowdhury, Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee, Jagdish Swaminathan, Rameshwar Broota, Krishen Khanna, and Anjolie Ela Menon, among others.
 
Besides, the catalogue comprises works by masters of the Bengal School of Art such as Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore and Hemendranath Mazumdar.
 
Chowdhury’s Story of Woman (2013), narrating a fable around a relationship between a man and a woman, is one of his largest and is estimated at Rs 3.5 crore-4.5 crore.
 
An early work of Husain titled Blue Ganges (circa 1966) is estimated at Rs 1.5 crore-1.8 crore, while a rare piece titled Aaj Ka Insaan by Ara, from the personal collection of his daughter, is estimated at Rs 50 lakh-60 lakh. Both will be making their debut in an auction.
 
Since the onset of the pandemic, the Indian art auction market has stood its ground through the course of the past one year, validated by the world records recorded for the most expensive modern Indian art painting in 2020 and 2021.
 
“Gaitonde continues to rule the roost, considering that it was his untitled work — created in 1995 and auctioned in 2015 — that initially held the record, which was later superseded by his work from 1974 last year,” says Sethi. “It was recently replaced by another of his works, a 1961 canvas that was auctioned this month and registered a sale value of Rs 39.98 crore.”

Anjolie Ela Menon, Arangetram

Bikash Bhattacharjee, On New Look, 1979

 
 

V S Gaitonde
 
Untitled (1971)
 
Estimate: Rs 13 cr-16 cr ($1,805,556-2,222,222)
 
 
Untitled (1970)
 
Estimate: Rs 12 cr-15 cr ($1,666,667-2,083,333)
 
 
Tyeb Mehta
 
Untitled (1981)
 
Estimate: Rs 12 cr-16 cr ($1,666,667-2,222,222)
 
 
Jogen Chowdhury
 
Story of Woman
 
Estimate: Rs 3.5 cr-4.5 cr ($486,111-625,000)
 
 
Manjit Bawa
 
Untitled (circa 1995)
 
Estimate: Rs 2 cr-2.5 cr ($277,778-347,222)
 
 
Untitled (2000)
 
Estimate: Rs 50 lakh-70 lakh ($69,444-97,222)
 
 
M F Husain
 
Blue Ganges (circa 1966)
 
Estimate: Rs 1.5 cr-1.8 cr ($208,333-250,000)
 
 
K H Ara
 
Aaj Ka Insaan (circa 1966)
 
Estimate: Rs 50 lakh-60 lakh ($69,444-83,333)
 
 
Krishen Khanna
 
Concerning a Drowned Girl (1971)
 
Estimate: Rs 50 lakh-60 lakh ($69,444-83,333)
 
 
Minstrels in the Forest
 
Estimate: Rs 40 lakh-60 lakh ($55,556-83,333)
 
 
 Anjolie Ela Menon
 
Arangetram
 
Estimate: Rs 30 lakh-40 lakh ($41,667-55,556)
 
 
Hemendranath Mazumdar
 
Untitled (circa 1940)
 
Estimate: Rs 40 lakh-50 lakh (55,556-69,444)
 
 
Bikash Bhattacharjee
 
On New Look (1979)
 
Estimate: Rs 20 lakh-30 lakh ($27,778-41,667)