The Hindu : New Delhi News : Contemporary art works up for sale

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Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008
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New Delhi

Contemporary art works up for sale

Madhur Tankha

Tayeb Mehta’s masterpiece “Kali III” is the highest priced work

READY FOR THE GAVEL: One of M.F. Husain’s paintings titled “Safdar Hashmi”, which will go under the hammer next month.

NEW DELHI: Art connoisseurs in the Capital will get a chance for a sneak preview of a special auction at Hotel Taj Mansingh here this coming Saturday.

Conducted by the Kolkata-based Emami Chisel Art, the preview will focus on modern and contemporary Indian art and include some rare and significant works of art by leading artists.

The highest priced work is a Tyeb Mehta masterpiece titled “Kali III”. Other leading artists whose works will go under the hammer include S.H. Raza (“Landscape”), Bikash Bhattacharjee (“Over The Dark Clouds”) and Amrita Sher-Gil.

Some of the other major names at the auction include F. N. Souza, Ganesh Pyne, M. F. Husain, Satish Gujral and Himmat Shah, while first-time entrants in an auction list include Sekar Roy, Chattrapati Dutta, P.R. Narvekar, Amitava Dhar, Sunil De and Ganesh Chandra Basu. Carefully handpicked from reputed galleries, artists and collectors, all the works have been selected by a panel of experts for their value, authenticity and auction viability.

“For the auction we have outsourced works from collectors who are based in different parts of the country. Through online bidding the sale is targeted to embrace bidders from India and around the world,” says Vikram Bachhawat of the auction house.

Pointing out that the authenticity and value of the works will be endorsed by the artists if he or she is living, Vikram says paintings by those who have passed away will be certified by experts on the artist concerned. “There will be an experts’ group for each auction. As things stand, we plan to stage about four auctions every year. With the first one kicking off in February, we aim to reel out three more auctions in April, September and December every year. While the debut auction will encompass modern and contemporary art, others would revolve around different exclusive genres like sculptures, drawings, prints and contemporary art.” The auction will also be held in Mumbai on February 10 and in Kolkata from February 16 to February 22. Finally, the auction comprising 89 works of art will go under the hammer at the Emami Chisel Art auction house in Kolkata on February 23.

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