Christie’s Mumbai Art Preview: South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art | 8-12 August 2023
Mumbai – Christie’s highlight preview of its upcoming South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction will take place in Mumbai between 8 and 12 August. The live auction will be held on 20 September 2023 as part of Asian Art Week in New York.
This season, our auction celebrates a diverse array of modern and contemporary artistic practices from South Asia through a wide offering of works across several styles and genres including painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation and book illustration. Many of the works in this auction were acquired directly from the studios of South Asia’s most renowned artists by important international collectors, and are complete fresh to the market.
Sourced from renowned private collections around the world, including those of the Abrams Family, the Ram Kumar Family and Mahinder and Sharad Tak, highlights of this auction include masterpieces by Maqbool Fida Husain, Sayed Haider Raza and Francis Newton Souza. Alongside these modern masters, the catalogue features works by pioneering artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Abdur Rahman Chughtai and Narayan Shridhar Bendre, as well as notable works by Manjit Bawa, Ganesh Pyne, Ram Kumar, Rashid Choudhry and George Keyt among others. These are complemented by a strong group of contemporary works that includes significant pieces by Zarina, Nalini Malani, Atul Dodiya, Bharti Kher, Ranjani Shettar, Subodh Gupta, Raqs Media Collective and Imran Qureshi.
From Australia comes a wonderful work on paper by MANJIT BAWA (1941-2008) Untitled (Goat and Watermelon), which was executed circa early 1990s (estimate $25,000-35,000). The work was acquired directly from the artist by Margo and Michael Johnson. The artist Michael Johnson and his wife Margo met Manjit Bawa in New Delhi while they were visiting with the Australian delegates to the Indian Triennale in 1994. Having just co-curated an exhibition of Indian Art in Australia, Bawa was appointed escort for the country’s contingent.
Also acquired directly from the artist is MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN’S (1913-2011) masterpiece Untitled (Naga), a monumental painting from the early 1970s (estimate $700,000-1,000,000). The work was acquired by Harry N. Abrams in 1972, the same year he published the first international monograph on Husain’s work, and has occupied pride of place in his family’s renowned collection of 20th and 21st century art ever since. Linking Husain’s Indian roots with his global outlook, this painting was the centrepiece of the seminal exhibition, Paintings by Husain, held at the Worcester Art Museum in 1974.
SAYED HAIDER RAZA’s (1922-2016) Rajasthan painted in 1983, was acquired directly from the artist by his close friend and fellow painter, Ram Kumar, and has remained in his family collection since then. A cornerstone of the artist’s oeuvre from the 1980s, it was borrowed for the important exhibition Raza at Gallery Chemould in 1984. The work returns almost four decades years later to Mumbai for a short preview before being offered for sale with an estimate of $250,000-350,000.
A fourth work presented in Mumbai was originally also acquired directly from the artist. Sidney Farleigh was introduced to FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002) in the London kitchen of his neighbor and best friend around the late 1950s – early 1960s. Subsequently Farleigh visited Souza’s home and studio in Belsize Park, where he recalled seeing his canvases pinned haphazardly to the wall as he did not use an easel at the time. Telling his family about this visit, he noted that he had to be careful to not tread on the open paint tubes discarded on the floor. Souza had a habit of painting through the night which meant that the light was static, and he could pay attention to the consistency of the colours he used. Still Life in Red from 1963 was acquired by Farleigh soon after completion and will be offered with an estimate of $280,000-350,000.
Another painting by FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924-2002) Untitled (Townscape) signed and dated ‘Souza 62’, is the property of another British private collector and will be offered with an estimate of $200,000-300,000. Painted in 1962, the work first belonged to Victor Musgrave, the owner of Gallery One in London, which represented the artist, and was then gifted by him to Albert Brown. This landscape has remained in his family collection since.
(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)
