Gulam Mohammed Sheikh: A rising star in the Indian art mkt

As we slowly inch towards the first big auction season of the year for Indian / South Asian art, when at least three headlining sales will be held in the month of March, I’m drawn to the list of lots published by one of them. Saffronart, which will host Spring Live Auction in Mumbai on March 13, has released the details of the lots on offer, and I’m particularly delighted at the pre-auction estimate of Sursagar, a 1987 oil on canvas by veteran artist Gulam Mohammed Sheikh. This multi-hued dreamscape by painter, art historian, writer and poet, is estimated between Rs 6 crore and Rs 8 crore ($731,710 - $975,610) and, in fact, shares the top spot of most valued work as per estimates with Untitled (Champaner), an oil on canvas by Bhupen Khakhar. Incidentally, both Khakhar and Sheikh—contemporaries and fellow artists and friends—belong to the same Baroda School of Indian art that provided the third vital point of the great Indian triangle of art, the other two being Santiniketan and Bombay.

What is most exciting about Gulam Mohammed Sheikh’s presence on top of the table is that this development points to a steady increase in the market value of his already highly valued art. One of his works, titled Ark: Kashmir, became a stellar success at auction last year, on 13 December 2023, when it sold for Rs 21 crore at Saffronart’s Winter Live Auction, shooting past its estimate of Rs 3 crore – Rs 5 crore.

A stalwart artist who has helped shape the discourse of modern Indian art for decades and is also a mentor to several artists of subsequent generations, however, remains relatively unknown to the lay admirers of art, though his following in the art world itself remains unchallenged.

It is all in the fitness of things that New Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery just opened a seminal exhibition of the artist’s works at Bikaner House in the city. Titled ‘Gulam Mohammed Sheikh: Kaarwaan and Other Stories,’ the exhibition was launched on February 19 and will be on view through March 12.

Knowing Gulam

Mohammed Sheikh

Gulam Mohammed Sheikh is one of the most important Indian artists associated with the Baroda ecosystem of Indian art. He was born in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in 1937, and obtained a bachelor’s and a master’s from the renowned Faculty of Fine Arts of M. S. University, Baroda; he would go on to teach here for several years over the next three decades—between 1960 and 1993—with small, intermittent breaks in between. In 1966, Royal College of Art, London granted him the Commonwealth Scholarship; later, he would become an associate of the academy.

Besides MSU Baroda, Sheikh has also taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, Civitella Ranieri Center at Umbertide, Italy, and at the University of Pennsylvania, among other prestigious institutions.

Sheikh has been bestowed with several prestigious awards in his long, illustrious career, some of which are: Lalit Kala Akademi’s National Award in 1962, Padma Shri in 1983, Kalidas Samman in 2002, and Padma Bhushan in 2014, among other honours. A writer and a poet of renown, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati in 2022. He is married to renowned artist Nilima Sheikh, and the two make one of the most important artist couples of modern Indian art. They are based in Baroda.

Sheikh’s Works at Auctions

Sursagar, the 1987 oil on canvas by Gulam Mohammed Sheikh that is coming up at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction on March 13, is no novice at the auction circuit. Earlier, it was auctioned at Christie’s South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Sale in September 2016 for $100,000 (approx. Rs 82.88 lakh at current exchange rates), against an estimate of $80,000 – $120,000 (approx. Rs 66.31 lakh – Rs 99.46 lakh at current exchange rates).

The estimate of the same work at the upcoming Saffronart auction is an indicator of the invigorating collector interest in Sheikh’s work. Measuring 42 by 47.75 in. (106.5 by 121.5 cm.), it’s a signature work by the veteran artist, featuring a surrealist imagery in deep shades of green, yellow and red, of amplified flora and fauna merged on a background of miniaturized humans, their structures and activities.

Sheikh’s works, of late, have been commanding high prices at auctions as is evident from the stellar performance of his large diptych from 1994-95, titled How Can You Sleep Tonight? At a Christie’s auction titled South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Including Works From The Collection of Mahinder and Sharad Tak in March 2022, it shot past its pre-auction estimate of $250,000 - $350,000 (approx. Rs 2.07 crore – Rs 2.90 crore at current exchange rates) to sell for a whopping $2,04,0000 (approx. Rs 16.91 crore at current exchange rates). (This is only a wee bit less than the price of Rs 21 crore achieved by Ark: Kashmir just two months ago.)

This canvas, too, is in signature Sheikh imagery, which, is best described in Christie’s lot essay: ‘After spending three years at the Royal College of Art in London on a Commonwealth Scholarship in the 1960s, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh’s practice became firmly entrenched in a figurative-narrative tradition, focusing on the search for an indigenous vocabulary that reflected the diversity of human life and experiences in India. The layered, kaleidoscopic landscapes that populate his paintings, with their organic forms and vibrant colours, are informed by a consciousness of the surreal existing in the mundane, and a keen awareness of the extensive range of visual and textural cultures and traditions that has always informed creative pursuits in India and globally.’

Another work bearing a similar narrative, too, commanded a high price at a Christie’s auction, way back in December 2015. Titled Beyond The Ridge, this 1976 oil on canvas was estimated at Rs 50 lakh – Rs 70 lakh, but sold for Rs 1.46 crore. Featuring rocky terrain interspersed with leafy vegetation, this work bears distinct miniaturist elements and is an exquisite example of Sheikh’s signature.

As is evident, the value of Gulam Mohammed Sheikh’s works at the auction circuit has remained strong for quite some time now and is steadily strengthening as well. It bodes well for the artist of his statuesque standing in modern Indian art, and especially fortunate as he is around to savour the popularity of his long-created artworks among collectors.