In an online auction conducted by Saffronart, nearly 24 per cent of the lots sold above their upper estimates with five works by top artists being sold for over Rs. 1 crore.
Amrita Sher-Gil’s Untitled (Zebegény Landscape) led the sale at Rs. 4.75 crore against a pre-sale estimate of Rs 3.9 to 5.2 crore. The highlight of the auction was the large number of overseas participants who showed an interest in buying Indian art.
The auction managed to sell 79 of the 109 works achieving a total sale value of Rs. 20.65 crore. F N Souza’s Untitled (after Titian’s Venus of Urbino and Manet’s Olympia) sold for Rs. 1.22 crore, while a painting by M. F. Husain sold for Rs. 1.08 crore.
A stainless steel installation by Subodh Gupta and S. H. Raza’s ‘Horizon’ also managed to sell for over Rs. 1 crore, beating their upper estimate value.
Commenting on the auction, Hugo Weihe, CEO of Saffronart, said, “We were delighted to see a very active international bidding, including bids placed via our mobile platform. There were many rare pieces with unusual history and at various attractive price points, so we are very gratified by the broad appeal it generated.”
