EXHIBITION / ART AUCTION : Masterpieces of Indian Modernism at The Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri, Diplomatic Enclave > 6th, 7th & 8th September 2016

Saffronart Auction Artworks

Time : 
Exhibition :                                                 
6th and 7th September : 11 am – 7 pm
8th September : 11 am – 3 pm
Auction : 7:30 pm (bidders can register at 6:30pm at the venue)

Entry : The auction catalogue may be viewed on saffronart.com. Bidders can pre-register by logging in online, or at the venue at the time mentioned above. Bids are accepted in the room, on the phone, through the Saffronart MobileApp, and online. Absentee/proxy bids may also be submitted, either through a written form or by placing proxy bids online. A live video webcast of the auction will be available on the website.

Venue : The Grand Ball Room and The Royal Room, The Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri, Diplomatic Enclave, New Delhi, Delhi 110023
Venue Info : Web | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Area : Chanakyapuri Events

Event Description : ART AUCTION : Masterpieces of Indian Modernism on Auction

·         Important works from the 1950s – 1970s by India’s leading modernists are among auction highlights
·         Scope of Modernism presented in greater depth, including rare early works
·         Akbar Padamsee’s masterpiece Greek Landscape (1960) at INR 7 – 9 crores (USD 1 – 1.3 million) as auction premiere
·         Painting by V S Gaitonde estimated at INR 10 – 15 crores (USD 1.5 – 2.2 million) is top lot
·         Further highlights include works by S H Raza, K G Subramanyan, Nasreen Mohamedi, Gulammohammed Sheikh and Gaganendranath Tagore
·         Auction on 8 September 2016 in New Delhi, preceded by viewings in Mumbai and New Delhi

Saffronart’s upcoming Evening Sale, its biggest art auction of the year, will take place in New Delhi on Thursday, 8 September 2016. The auction features 87 lots valued at a total of INR 62 – 87.8 crores (USD 9.4 – 13.3 million). The sale focuses on Modern Indian art, with important works from the post-Independence years, when India’s leading artists created some of their best and most significant paintings.

Leading the sale are exemplary paintings by Akbar Padamsee and V S Gaitonde. Padamsee’s Greek Landscape (1960), an imagined cityscape painted in a palette of varying intensities of grey, attracted particular attention for its revolutionary approach and monumental scale, when it was first exhibited at the Jehangir Art Gallery. Padamsee garnered critical acclaim from leading art critics of the time, and found admiration among his contemporaries, including M F Husain and Krishen Khanna.One of only four large scale works from this seminal show and featured on the invitation card at the time, it is now entering the auction market for the first time ever.Greek Landscape firmly established Padamsee as a master and now stands as an icon of Indian Modernism. It is estimated at INR 7 – 9 crores (USD 1 – 1.3 million).

“Everything starts from silence. The silence of the brush. The silence of the canvas. The silence of the painting knife. The painter starts by absorbing all these silences.” Nowhere do V S Gaitonde’s words manifest more profoundly than in Untitled (1970), an oil on canvas painting that he created at a time when he had moved into his most lyrically abstract phase. Architect and friend of Gaitonde, Narendra Dengle once wrote that in works such as the lot on auction, “the entire work appeared like a dance of colours on canvas.” The top lot on auction, it is estimated at INR 10 – 15 crores (USD 1.5 – 2.2 million).

Further highlights from the sale include paintings by S H Raza, K G Subramanyan, Nasreen Mohamedi, Gulammohammed Sheikh, and Gaganendranath Tagore, among many others. For the first time, Saffronart is also offering works by Sir Jacob Epstein, G M Solegaonkar, A A Raiba, Prodosh Dasgupta and Ila Pal, providing greater insights into the scope of Indian Modernism as well as rare and unusual early works by the Masters.

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