Paintings from Important Collectors of Indian Art on Auction this June

· Modern and Contemporary Indian art with excellent provenances
· Amrita Sher-Gil’s Untitled (Zebegény Landscape), 1931, leads the sale at INR 3.9 – 5.2 crores (USD 600,000 – 800,000)
· Works by V S Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat feature in the sale
· Viewings in Mumbai and London through May and June
· Auction on 8 – 9 June on saffronart.com

Mumbai : In June, Saffronart’s Summer Online Auction will see 109 works by leading Modern and Contemporary Indian artists go under the hammer. With a pre-sale estimate of INR 21.78 – 29.46 crores (USD 3.35 – 4.5 million), the auction’s uniqueness lies in the excellent provenances accompanying several works, with significant lots from some of Indian art’s earliest and most important collectors.

Leading the sale is Lot 29, Amrita Sher-Gil’s Untitled (Zebegény Landscape), estimated between INR 3.9 – 5.2 crores (USD 600,000 – 800,000). Sher-Gil was India’s foremost woman artist, whose brief career spanning just over a decade had a deep impact on Indian art. Made in 1931, this landscape was painted during a summer holiday she spent in the Hungarian village of Zebegény on the banks of the Danube. It demonstrates Sher-Gil’s artistic confidence and maturity at a young age.

Among the highlights is Lot 26, a 1953 painting by V S Gaitonde, estimated between INR 52 – 65 lakhs (USD 80,000 – 100,000), from the collection of Bilwa Chowdhury and Eleonore Chowdhury-Haberl. The Chowdhurys were among the earliest collectors of Indian art, and were involved in the nascent stages of the development of Modern Indian art. They have built a significant art collection over the decades, much of which is now in Mumbai and Vienna. The Gaitonde work on auction was part of the retrospective, "Painting as Process, Painting as Life", at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Also once part of their collection is Lot 25, an early landscape painting by Ram Kumar, estimated between INR 65 – 97.5 lakhs (USD 100,000 – 150,000), marking his transition to abstract painting.

Lot 61, F N Souza's Untitled (after Titian's Venus of Urbino and Manet's Olympia) is an impressive oil on board estimated between INR 1.1 – 1.3 crores (USD 170,000 – 200,000). Lot 6, a seminal 1959 painting by K K Hebbar titled Tile Factory, is estimated between INR 16.25 – 22.75 lakhs (USD 25,000 – 35,000). Also included in the sale are sculptures by Himmat Shah and Sankho Chaudhuri, and works by masters such as S H Raza and M F Husain.

Lot 98, a stainless steel installation by Subodh Gupta, estimated between INR 97.5 lakhs – 1.3 crores (USD 150,000 – 200,000), is among the highlights of Contemporary Indian art. The selection further includes works by G Ravinder Reddy, Baiju Parthan, Sudarshan Shetty, and Jitish Kallat.

Hugo Weihe, CEO of Saffronart says, “The sale presents a very attractive and carefully considered selection, that offers something for collectors at all stages and at different price points. Many works have excellent provenances and there are many rare and well priced opportunities for art lovers.”

The auction begins 9 am IST on 8 June, on saffronart.com, and concludes on 9 June. It is preceded by a viewing of select lots in Mumbai and London.

Auction:
8 – 9 June 2016
saffronart.com
Auction begins 9 am IST on 8 June

Viewings:

Mumbai

18 May – 9 June 2016
11 am – 7 pm, Monday – Saturday
Sunday by appointment

Saffronart Mumbai
Ground and 3rd Floor, Industry Manor
Appasaheb Marathe Marg,
Prabhadevi
Mumbai 400025

London

23 – 28 May and 6 – 9 June 2016 at Saffronart
11 am – 7 pm, Monday – Friday
11 am – 4 pm, Saturday

Saffronart
73 New Bond Street
1st Floor
London, W1S 1RS

2 – 4 June 2016 at Osborne Samuel
Monday – Friday
10 am – 6 pm
10 am – 2 pm, Saturday

Osborne Samuel
23a Bruton Street
London
W1J 6QG