Buy this: Art to fetch Rs15 crore

Saffronart, an auction house for modern and contemporary Indian art, is back to warm up the winter with its annual online art auction. With 100 works by 51 leading contemporary Indian artists to go under the hammer, at an estimated value of about Rs15 crore, the auction is likely to throw up some pleasant surprises for the Indian art market.

The auction, which will take place on December 9-10 at www.saffronart.com, includes paintings, drawings and sculptures by artists Manjit Bawa, FN Souza, SH Raza, Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta and Jagdish Swaminathan. Notable contemporary artists in the sale are Subodh Gupta, Anju Dodiya, Raqib Shaw and Jagannath Panda.

With a strong focus on aesthetically significant work, the sale promises to generate great interest and demand from collectors across the globe.

Featuring for the first time at a Saffronart auction is the work of Raqib Shaw, whose work has been celebrated in prestigious solo exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Tate Britain in London. Drawing from various disciplines of literature, zoology and art history, Shaw’s work is an amalgamation of influences, including the work of old masters like Bosch, Holbein and Piranesi, Mughal miniatures, the Romantic works of Wordsworth, Byron and Coleridge.

“The success of our recent auctions has proved that collectors around the globe continue to show great demand for rare and exceptional works,” Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder, Saffronart said.

“This auction presents a well-balanced catalogue with artworks of very strong provenance and quality.”