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.
'Greek Landscape' is now the most expensive painting by Akbar Padamsee.
Sher-Gil's Untitled (Zebegeny Landscape) led the sale against a pre-sale estimate of Rs 3.9 crores to Rs 5.2 crores (USD 600,000 - 800,000).
'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.' 'The prime minister speaks about Make in India. Let's remind ourselves also of Made in India. What made India great. What are the great things of the past which will help us make India even greater.' 'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.'
'Soft power is the power really to win friends and influence people with the strength of your ideas.' 'India's greatest soft power is being India itself. A nation of varied beliefs, states, creeds, castes, languages and yet embodying that spirit of unity in diversity.'
'If I get posted to a place, if people engage with me just as an Indian diplomat, I have X amount of leverage.' 'But when they look at me as the high commissioner of India and the author of Slumdog Millionaire, many more people are willing to meet me, more quickly than they would as a pure diplomat.'
'Raza exemplified a sense of warmth and a connectedness to his roots and to Indian earth.'
'... and all of the symbolism, history, the colours of his motherland, the earth, the sky, all of that is there and it always remains with him.'
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
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