Christie's Set World Auction Record for Any Modern Indian Work of Art

Written by Hugo Weihe Thursday, 10 June 2010 20:32

LONDON.- The two day sale of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Including Property From The Estate of Francis Newton Souza realised a total of £12,462,425/$18,092,364 US / €15,056,174 and was 98% sold by value and 91% sold by lot. The top lot was Syed Haider Raza (b. 1922), Saurashtra, 1983 which fetched £2,393,250/ $3,486,965 US / €2,893,439, setting a World Auction Record for any Modern Indian Work of Art and a World Auction Record for the Artist. This monumental painting was bought by a Private Indian Museum.

Hugo Weihe, Christie’s International Director of Asian Art and Yamini Mehta, Head of Sale said, “This sale represents records of every kind. Showing the depth of enthusiasm and passion to obtain rare objects, the sale of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Including Property from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza realised an overall total of £12.4 million, becoming the most valuable sale of this category in history. The monumental work Saurashtra by Syed Haider Raza set a World Auction Record not only for the artist but for any modern Indian art in history.

We are thrilled that this work will return to India as a fitting tribute to the artist and a celebration of art from this region. Elsewhere in the various owner section of the sale, 10 June, a carefully selected array of iconic works by modern and contemporary masters was met with true enthusiasm and depth of bidding throughout. Six new Artist World Auction Record Prices were set, including: Aisha Khalid (lot 236); Sunil Gawde (lot 239); Naiza Khan (lot 244); Imran Qureshi (lot 249) and Soren Pors & Aparna Rao (lot 269). We are honoured that Maqbool Fida Husain attended the auction and pleased that he saw all works by his hand sell successfully. Masterworks by Subodh Gupta, Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta all roared past their high estimates and cemented this sale as a benchmark for the season, the year and beyond.”

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