Raza painting sells for record £2.4m
Indian-born France-based artist Syed Haider Raza’s painting Saurashtra was on Thursday afternoon auctioned for £2,393,250, a world record for any modern Indian work of art.
The 1983 painting by 87-year-old Raza is now the most valuable modern Indian art work and it was sold by a private French collector, who had acquired the 200 x 200 cm painting directly from the artist. No details about the buyer have been released by Christie’s as yet.
Raza moved to France 60 years ago and lives in Paris and Corbio in southern France. In 2009, Raza, one of the founder members of the Progressive Artists’ group, decided to stop painting professionally. Saurashtra, one of Madhya Pradesh-born Raza’s most ambitious works, provides a transitional bridge into his structured geometric works which are characteristic of his most recent body of paintings and his representation of nature.
The painting was estimated by Christie’s auction house to sell for £1.3 million-£1.8 million, but was ultimately sold for £2,393,250.
The sale on Thursday broke the record of Francis Newton Souza’s 1955 painting, called Birth, which in June 2008 sold for £1,273,250, a world record for Indian modern and contemporary work of art till now. Raza’s four paintings, including Saurashtra, were auctioned at South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art Sale by Christie’s on Thursday. Untitled (Village) was sold for £229,250 almost at double the estimate of £100,000-£150,000. The other two untitled paintings, estimated to sell for £3,000-£5,000 and £6,000-£8,000 sold for £10,000 each. The million-pound mark was crossed by Falling Bird by Tyeb Mehta, which was estimated to sell for £400,000-£600,000, was auctioned for £1,049,250. Mehta, who passed away in 2009, painted Falling Bird in 1999. M.F. Husain’s Untitled (Arjuna and Krishna), portraying the Mahabharata, was estimated to sell for £500,000-700,000 and sold for £577,250.
Contemporary artist Subodh Gupta’s sculpture Chimta, which was valued at £200,000-£300,000, ultimately sold for £529,250.
The Christie’s sale of Francis Newton Souza’s estate on Wednesday led to collection of £5,449,025 and the artist’s 1962 painting Red Curse was sold for £881,250, the highest price realised at the auction.
Souza, a member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, died in 2002. The painting estimated to sell for £150,000-£250,000 was bought by a private European buyer.
Responding to the Souza sale, Christie’s international director of Asian art Hugo Weihe and head of sale Yamini Mehta said, “This monumental sale, with bidding from around the room and all corners of the world, is a fantastic testament to the legacy of Souza. As Souza himself was a trailblazer within the Indian Progressive movement, this sale truly marked the unprecedented energy and participation for this category.” The sale on Thursday realised over £7 million for 71 lots of art.
Comments
Paintings are one of those
Roselima Track (painting collector)
18 Jun 2010 - 15:04
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