A work of art by Indian artist Francis Newton Souza has fetched a world auction record price of 1,273,250 pounds at the Christie's in London. "Amongst the masterpieces offered, Francis Newton Souza's 'Birth' (1955) realised 1,273,250 pounds, setting a new world auction record for the artist and for any Indian modern and contemporary work of art," Hugo Weihe, Christie's International director of Asian Art and Yamini Mehta, head of sale, said on Wednesday.
The auction will also feature works of M F Husain, as well as early works by masters Tyeb Mehta and Francis Newton Souza.
The sale lot of 61 pieces of art, which was spread across a variety of categories such as modern and contemporary South Asian art, prints, and photographs, realised an estimated sale price of Rs 23.8 crore. Pre-auction estimates had expected the sale to range between Rs 37 crore and Rs 52 crore. Around 11 pieces of art remained unsold on Day One, reports Pavan Lall.
The auction was held by Christie's on Monday evening and the highest price of 720,000 pounds went for Syed Haider Raza's La Terre (1985).
An oil painting by abstract artist Vasudeo S Gaitonde set a new world record for Indian artwork when it sold for a whopping Rs 29.3 crore ($4.4 million) at a Christie's auction in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The auction was watched closely as it comes at a time when other major names like Christie's have pulled out of India.
Renowned artist Tyeb Mehta's untitled canvas depicting a falling bull on Thursday got sold for a whopping Rs 15 crore at the second edition of Indian art auction held by the Christie's in Mumbai.
The 'Artery Top 500 Works' list features the most expensive Indian works of art that have been sold so far. Their collective realised price? $367.9 million! As the demand and value of Indian artists grows internationally, we look at the record setters.
Christie's second art auction in Mumbai saw 78 works by Indian artists fetching a total of Rs 75.27 crore.
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A meeting to pay homage to K G Subramanyam, one of India's most interesting painters and thinkers.
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