Saffronart, the world’s largest online fine-art auction house, will showcase the works of 43 modern and contemporary Indian artists at its annual Autumn Online Art Auction. With a total of 90 lots, the sale offers collectors a broad selection of works including paintings, drawings, installations and sculptures, and will take place online at www.saffronart.com on September 8-9, 2010.
Highlights of this sale include a wide range of paintings by modern masters like S.H. Raza, Jehangir Sabavala and Jogen Chowdhury, as well as outstanding works by contemporary artists such as Subodh Gupta, N.S. Harsha, Jitish Kallat and G. Ravinder Reddy. This carefully collated auction catalogue brings several competitively estimated artworks together, which are sure to captivate both seasoned and emerging collectors.
This summer, Saffronart set a new world auction record of $374,900 for Jehangir Sabavala’s work titled “The Casuarina Line I”. In this sale, an important canvas by him titled ‘The Wayfarers – II’, will be offered. Also on offer are S.H. Raza’s ‘Bhartiya Samaroh’, N.S. Harsha’s ‘Conversing Cleansers’, Jogen Chowdhury’s ‘Untitled’, Subodh Gupta’s ‘Untitled’, Ravinder Reddy’s ‘Untitled’ and Manjit Bawa’s ‘Untitled’.
Speaking about the auction, Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and Co-founder of Saffronart said, “Our auctions in March and June saw a strong demand for rare and exceptional works which are unique to the market. This autumn, Saffronart once again presents a carefully selected and focused collection of high-quality works by modern and contemporary Indian artists.”
“The global art market has seen a surge in both growth and confidence and we expect our Autumn Online Auction results to set the tone for the season. An exceptional collection with strong provenance, our Autumn Online Auction offers yet another opportunity for collectors all over the world to acquire the finest and rarest artworks”, he added.
On the front cover of the catalogue is an important 1988 canvas by S. H. Raza. One of Raza’s earliest and largest fractured geometric paintings, ‘Bhartiya Samaroh’ highlights distinct symbols and their collective narrative. The recurring use of motifs like the Bindu or the triangular yoni, are significant in their repetition as they form a language of symbols to interpret Raza’s aesthetic oeuvre. This painting seems almost to ‘read’ as a story with the differently patterned squares coming together to form a whole construct. But it would be a mistake to treat Raza’s imagery as purely decorative. Each fragment of the whole has a metaphysical significance all its own – like the Bindu which is the primordial life-force or the triangles which represent germination. But more importantly, the images also work together as components of a central idea.
The Autumn Auction reinforces Saffronart’s position as one of the most definitive sources of modern and contemporary Indian art today. Over the last ten years, Saffronart has attracted a growing number of collectors across the world. With online auctions, fixed price sales, exhibition programs, and technology-enabled services for clients, all connected through an unparalleled online presence, Saffronart has become the world’s largest online fine-art auction house.
In addition, Saffronart’s mobile bidding technology brings unparalleled convenience to bidders, who have responded with rapidly increasing participation. In Saffronart’s Summer Auction in June, 10 lots with an aggregate value totaling $934,272 were won by bidders on Blackberrys and iPhones. M.F. Husain’s Untitled work sold for $235,750 through this first of its kind mobile bidding application.
The total lower and higher estimates for the Autumn Online Auction are $6.5 million and $8.7 million respectively. The sale will be accompanied by an illustrated print catalogue and preview events and private viewings at Saffronart’s gallery spaces in Mumbai and New York. The sale will take place online on September 8-9. Collectors may place bids at Saffronart’s website, or via Saffronart’s proprietary Blackberry and iPhone mobile applications.
