16-03-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
ASIA
16-03-2021 to 31-03-2021
11
Rare modern Indian art to make
auction debut in late March sale
New Delhi : Two monumental oil on
canvases by leading modernist V S
Gaitonde from 1970 and 1971, each
estimated to sell between Rs 12-16
crores, are set to go under the hammer at
an online AstaGuru auction on March
30-31.
According to a statement by the
2008-established auction house, both of
Gaitonde's works featuring in the
Modern Indian Art online auction come
from a highly significant period in the
artist's career when he was considered
to be in his most productive and experimental
phase, during which his work
style completely journeyed towards
abstraction. Gaitonde's paintings from
the 70's embody the principal technical
methodologies, as well as the ideologies
of Zen Buddhism he had adopted as an
artist over the last decade.
Gaitonde's work from 1970 takes on
a minimalistic approach featuring a
largely subtle overtone with abstracted
forms painted in deep blacks that appear
to float on the canvas and break the
monochromatic composition of the
painting. The second work truly showcases
Gaitonde's control over the medium
and his mastery on the canvas to
achieve a vivacious creation of earthy
overtones with bright patches of orange
that seek to break through its surface,
said AstaGuru.
The late March auction also includes
a fine selection of 30 eminent works in
the Modern Indian Art space from masterpieces
by stalwarts such as V S
Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar
Padamsee, Manjit Bawa, Jogen
Chowdhury, and Jagdish Swaminathan,
to never before auctioned creations by
K H Ara, M F Hussain, Krishen
Khanna, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Anjolie
Ela Menon, and many more artists.
According to AstaGuru, some of the
works on sale are making their auction
debut.
Tyeb Mehta's Untitled masterpiece
from 1981 will also be on sale at an estimate
of Rs 12-16 crores. The painting is
a significant work from the artist's oeuvre
and acts as a transitional piece and a
precursor to his later explorations with
the themes of the rickshaw puller which
became an important subject of his
work. Mehta's work took on a transformation
following his encounter with
minimalist art during his stay in New
York in 1968, when his approach
changed to well-structured minimal
fields of colour which were technically
executed, shared AstaGuru.
It added: Jogen Chowdhury's 'Story
of Woman', a mammoth work from
2013, is one his largest and most important
paintings till date. Estimated to sell
at Rs 3.5-4.5 crores, the work of monumental
proportions narrates a fable
which revolves around the sexual tension
which looms over the relationship
of a man and woman, with the woman
being the central protagonist. The scale
of the painting and subject matter is vast
to the extent that the artist had to work
on 5 panels which extends to 25 feet in
length in order to etch the essence of his
thought process and observations. The
theme of sexual tension between a man
and a woman has been a point of contemplation
for Jogen Chowdhury for an
extended period of time, however this
painting is an outcome of totalitarian
thematic distillation.
Making its auction debut, is an early
work by M. F. Hussain titled 'Blue
Ganges' from 1966 -- one of the few
rare compositions that the artist executed
on wood -- is estimated at Rs 1.5-1.8
crores, said AstaGuru. In this work, the
artist captures the mystics of the ghat
and the people partaking in the ritual of
bathing in the holy river. The dense sensation
of the ghats and its unique geological
terrain is effectively established.
Another painting in the sale is an
extremely rare work titled 'Aaj Ka
Insaan' by India's foremost modernists
K H Ara from the personal collection of
his daughter Ruxana Pathan. Ara who
was predominantly concerned with the
nude form and still-life genre deviates
towards an extremely ponderous
approach in the presented work. It is
estimated to sell between Rs 50-60
lakhs.
Another auction debut estimated at
Rs 40-50 lakhs, is of a beautifully
arresting, 'Untitled' painting of a female
protagonist from the limited oeuvre of
Hemendranath Mazumdar, who became
one of the few Indian artists of the early
20th century to gain monetary as well as
critical appreciation for this work. As
part of his formal training,
Hemendranath mastered the Western
Academic style of painting adapted to
an Indian subject matter as a whole, and
female portraits in particular. Bathing
women or those partially draped in wet
saris became the artist's most revisited
subject matter. He became a highly
revered painter in the Kolkata art scene
in the 1920's.
Two important and unique works by
eminent artist Krishen Khanna also feature
in the sale: 'Concerning A Drowned
Girl' and 'Minstrels in The Forest'.
Three distinctive artworks by Manjit
Bawa also feature in the exhibition.
According to Tushar Sethi, CEO,
AstaGuru, "a majority of the works in
this auction have been part of significant
collections for decades and it is an
absolute pleasure to be introducing
them into the auction market for the
very first time. With masterpieces from
renowned artists like Gaitonde, Tyeb
Mehta, and Hussain, to artworks from
the limited oeuvre of Hemendranath
Mazumdar, Rabindranath and
Gaganendranath Tagore, this catalogue
has been painstakingly crafted for seasoned
buyers looking to add unique
works to their collections."
The auction will take place online on
www.astaguru.com on March 30-31.
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channel 772.
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