Today, the high-profile Asia Week in New York officially kicked off, with Sotheby's "Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art" taking the lead in raising the gavel. The auction brings together important works of art from the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries from all over South Asia, reflecting the region's unique, diverse and thriving art ecology.
In the end, 109 masterpieces of art were sold for a total of US$9,559,430 (about 60.75 million yuan), with a turnover rate of 94.5%, 2 lots of more than one million US dollars were born, and 56.9% of the lots were sold at an overvalued price. Artists such as Uzhnah Hasheme, Armanas Schiger, and Mila Mukherjee set new personal auction records.
In recent years, the market for modern and contemporary art has grown rapidly. Driven by the international art market, the South Asian modern and contemporary art market has also quietly risen in the past two years, but the overall scale is still niche. Throughout this auction, the high turnover rate and the ultra-high valuation turnover rate are also a good example of the collection of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Asia.
Leading the auction was Painting 4 by India's finest abstract painter, Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924-2001), which sold for $2.47 million. Gaytonde is the holder of the Indian art auction record (in 2015, his oil painting Untitled sold for $4.4 million), and he was actively involved in the Progressive Artists Group (PAG). His creation was a bold change in the history of Indian art. However, Gaytonde was not a prolific painter, completing only five or six thoughtful paintings a year. For him, the incubation and spread of painting as an idea in his own consciousness attracted his attention and time. On the same night, "Painting 4" sold for $2.47 million at a maximum valuation of $2 million, accounting for 25% of the total turnover of the market, and performed strongly.
Vassudio Gaytonede's Painting 4
Estimate: 1,500,000 - 2,000,000 USD
Price realised: 2,470,000 USD
Sotheby's New York, March 21, 2022
The second highest price in this session was the "Sheikh Shoe Store" sold for $1.381 million. The author of the work is the self-taught Indian painter Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003). The market for Buburn's work has risen steadily over the past 5 years, especially since london's Tate Modern held its iconic retrospective, Buburn Haal: You Can't Please Everyone, in 2016. Created in 1977, Sheikh's Shoe Shop is part of Buburn Haal's most prized period, part of the artist's high-profile "Trade" series, one of the few such works to appear on the market publicly over the past decade. Most of the works in this series are either in the homes of friends of Buben or in important private and institutional collections. So Sheikh Shoe Shop offers a rare opportunity for collectors. That night, "Sheikh Shoe Shop" sold for $1.1 million and commission for $1.381 million, 4.6 times the undervalued price after 23 bids.
Buben Haqar "Sheikh Shoe Shop"
Estimate: 300,000 - 500,000 USD
Price realised: 1,381,000 USD
The third highest price of the game was Jehangir Sabavala (1922 – 2011), an untitled piece created at an important stage of his career in 1977. Sabawala studied in Paris, France in his early years and began to boldly explore Cubist lines and forms. Upon his return to India in 1951, he began to fundamentally deconstruct his still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and religious works, forming an almost kaleidoscopic vision of shapes and colors. With its delicate, elegant silhouettes and beautiful and subtle colors, Untitled represents the final moments of one of the painter's most famous phases. This timeless and enchanting seascape embodies the pinnacle of Sabawala's quest to depict a tranquil, ethereal landscape of the mind. That night, "Untitled" sold for $945,000, the third highest price in the field, and the third highest price in the artist's personal auction record.
Jahangi Sabawala "Untitled"
Estimate: 600,000 - 800,000 USD
Price realised: 945,000 USD
The third highest price in the artist's individual auction
In addition, the performance of the works of Ganish Pine and Francis Newton Souza is worth mentioning. Among them, Pine's portraits are derived from a combination of myth and memory, and the weak figures and dark, dreamy landscapes in his works often appear at dusk and have a dreamlike quality. In this film, "Dreamland", the audience is invited to enter this dream world full of myths and mysteries, and the protagonist of the painting is a lonely, introspective person. "Dreamland" also won fierce competition from collectors, and after more than 30 bids, "Dreamland" sold for 529,200 yuan at an undervalued price of 5.3 times, setting a new record for the artist's personal auction and winning the fourth highest price in this auction.
Ganish Pine's "Dreamland"
Estimate: 100,000 - 150,000 USD
Price realised: 529,200 USD (new record)
The fifth highest-priced lot in this auction was "The Castle", which sold for $441,000. One of India's most influential modern painters, Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002), created in 1957, is a masterpiece of his "Black Paintings". In the picture, a lonely building attracts the viewer with its dark tone and enchanting firelight — it suddenly appears in the foreground, as if it were a ghost, something difficult to forget. Originally from the collection of Harold Kovner, Suza's first patron, the work is of great significance.
Francis Newton Suzza, The Castle, 1957
Realized price: 441,000 USD
On the evening, contemporary artists also performed well, with Ganish Pine, Uzhnah Hasheme, Armanas Schiger, Mila Mukher and many other artists setting new personal auction records. Among them, Uzhnah Hashime and Armanas Schiger can be described as the dark horse artists in this scene, and their works "Tasbih (Gold)" and "Nari" were sold at 7.3 times and 11.55 times the undervalued price respectively, with gratifying results. In particular, the latter, in the auction that night, after 39 bidding, significantly refreshed the artist's individual auction record with 277,200 US dollars.
Uzina Hashime, "Tasbih (Gold)"
Estimate: 50,000 - 70,000 USD
Price realised: 365,400 USD (new record)
Armanas Schiger "Nari"
Estimate: 24,000 - 34,000 USD
Price realised: 277,200 USD (new record)
Mira Mukherjee, "Mango Orchard"
Estimate: 80,000 - 120,000 USD
Price realised: 226,800 USD (new record)
Other high-priced lots
Manjit Bawa "Untitled (Sukhni)"
Realized price: 327,600 USD
Maqbool Fida Husain "Untitled"
Estimate: 120,000 - 180,000 USD
Realized price: 252,000 USD
Rameshwar Broota", Artist Self-Portrait I
Estimate: 50,000 - 80,000 USD
Price realised: 151,200 USD
Bharti Kher《No Title》
Price realised: 113,400 USD
Said Haider Raza, L'Hiver
Estimate: 40,000 - 60,000 USD
Price realised: 52,920 USD