A handwritten poem by Rabindranath Tagore and a collection of posters commissioned by Mahatma Gandhi are among select artworks that will go under the hammer at global auctioneer Christie’s New York sale this month.
A total of 81 works by Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore and Nandlal Bose, sourced from the personal collection of Bose’s nephew Supratik Bose, would be held on September 17.
The sale “The Art of Nandalal Bose, Abanindranath Tagore, and Rabindranath Tagore: The Collection of Supratik Bose” comes ahead of Christie’s inaugural sale in India to be held in Mumbai in December this year.
The collection by Supratik Bose, a retired architect and officer at Harvard University, is being put up in the market for the first time, according to auctioneers.
“We are deeply honoured to have been entrusted by Supratik Bose to handle this extraordinary collection that his grandfather Nandalal Bose handed down to him,” Hugo Weihe, Christie’s international director of Asian Art, said in a statement.
The auction also includes a collection of posters commissioned by Mohandas K Gandhi for the Indian National Congress meeting in Haripura, 1938. A poster titled “Bull Fighter” by Bose has been estimated to sell between $30,000 to $50,000.