Indian art market heats up as auction season begins

As we enter the month of March, the Indian art world braces up for an interesting time with top three auction houses — Saffronart, Sotheby’s and Christie’s — lining up stellar works of Indian modern art across different sales.

First off the block is Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction on March 13 in Mumbai, which is already generating interest among art market watchers for its top two lots on offer.

The top spot is occupied by two works by two Baroda artists and contemporaries — Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003) and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh (b. 1937). Khakhar’s 1996 oil on canvas, Untitled (Champaner) and Sheikh’s 1987 oil on canvas, Sursagar, are both estimated between Rs 6 crore and Rs 8 crore each ($731,710 - $ 975,610).

The presence of works by these two artists at the top of a premier auction list augurs well for the growth and maturing of Indian art market as it indicates the broad-basing of the lots on offer. These are names outside the circle of the handful few masters who have ruled and continue to rule the Indian market — the names such as Amrita Sher-Gil, SH Raza, FN Souza, MF Husain, VS Gaitonde, and a few others, with which we are all too familiar.

Of Khakhar and Sheikh, the former has been skimming the top of the auction pyramid for a few years now, a phenomenon celebrated by art aficionados and collectors alike. The works by the latter, too, are now beginning to regularly appear at the top of auction lists as I had analysed in detail in the previous week’s column.

Top lots at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction

While a canvas each by Khakhar and Sheikh get the top billing at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction on March 13 in Mumbai, the next in line making up the top 15 include familiar names, which are as follows along with estimates:

1. Untitled (Champaner), 1996, oil on canvas, Bhupen Khakhar, Rs 6 crore – Rs 8 crore

2. Sursagar, 1987, oil on canvas, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Rs 6 crore – Rs 8 crore

3. Front-Back Nude, 1950, oil on board, FN Souza, Rs 6.15 crore – Rs 7.79 crore

4. Tearing Apart, 1970, oil on canvas, MF Husain, Rs 4 crore – Rs 6 crore

5. Rajasthan, 1961, oil on canvas, SH Raza, Rs 2.46 crore – Rs 4.10 crore

6. The Lost Self, 1971, oil on canvas, Rameshwar Broota, Rs 1.50 crore – Rs 2 crore

7. Forêt Noir, 1961, oil on jute, SH Raza, Rs 1.50 crore – Rs 2 crore

8. Untitled, circa 1950s, oil on canvas, MF Husain, Rs 1.47 crore – Rs 1.80 crore

9. Untitled, circa 1980s, acrylic on canvas, MF Husain, Rs 1.20 crore – Rs 1.50 crore

10. Arunodaya, 1989, oil on canvas, NS Bendre, Rs 90 lakh – Rs 1.20 crore

11. Toreador, 1966, oil on canvas, FN Souza, Rs 73.80 lakh – Rs 98.40 lakh

12. Untitled, 2004, oil on canvas, Ram Kumar, Rs 55 lakh – Rs 75 lakh

13. Golden Curtain, 2003, watercolour on paper, Bhupen Khakhar, Rs 50 lakh – Rs 70 lakh

14. Untitled (Pindapatha), 1951, oil on canvas, George Keyt, Rs 50 lakh – Rs 70 lakh

15. Untitled, 1948, watercolour on paper, SH Raza, Rs 40 lakh – Rs 60 lakh

As the above list enunciates, a big part of it is populated by the names that even the lay admirers of art are most familiar with. There are multiple canvases on this list by SH Raza, MF Husain and FN Souza. While Ram Kumar and Rameshwar Broota may not have the same recall as the first three, they are part of the elite group of modern artists whose works lead the market. In this well-known mélange, it’s refreshing to see the names of Bhupen Khakhar, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, NS Bendre and George Keyt. Works by all these masters have been performing well at different auctions of late; in fact, Keyt, the Sri Lankan modern master, has remained a top performer for quite some time.

An interesting, relatively new inclusion is that of Govind Madhav Solegaonkar (1912-1986). His Untitled (Taking a Rest), an oil on canvas featuring a group of women taking a break from work in the outdoors, is a charming work that shows amazing adherence to traditionalism even as it distinctly displays modernist strokes. It is estimated at Rs 10 lakh – Rs 12 lakh. Solegaonkar was born in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh, and educated at Sir JJ School of Art, Bombay. He was a member of the Indore Group, active from 1934-1937, which included artists such as NS Bendre, DJ Joshi and MS Joshi. According to Saffronart, he received many awards and honours during his lifetime and his works are on display at the Rajya Sabha in New Delhi, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and CSMVS, Mumbai.

Alongside, Saffronart will also host an online auction of Indian art on March 13-14, in which the top works on offer are as follows:

1. Portrait of Denyse, circa 1930s, oil on canvas, Amrita Sher-Gil, Rs 12.30 crore – Rs 20.5 crore

2. Untitled, 2003, acrylic on canvas, Ram Kumar, Rs 45 lakh – Rs 65 lakh

3. Untitled, oil and acrylic on canvas, Sakti Burman, Rs 40 lakh – Rs 60 lakh

4. Incantation, oil impasto on jute canvas, Sohan Qadri, Rs 30 lakh – Rs 50 lakh

5. Untitled, 1959, oil on canvas, SH Raza, Rs 40 lakh – Rs 50 lakh

6. Untitled, acrylic and ink on canvas, Avinash Chandra, Rs 40 lakh – Rs 50 lakh

7. The Killing of Jatayu, 2004, oil on canvas, Rs 30 lakh – Rs 40 lakh

The works on offer at the online auction are more affordable compared to the top lots at the live auction, with the exception of the work by Amrita Sher-Gil, Portrait of Denyse, which by pre-auction estimate is the most expensive lot on offer across both the auctions by Saffronart. It will not be a surprise if this work goes past its highest pre-auction estimate because any superlative canvas by Sher-Gil — one of India’s nine National Treasure artists — is always a hot commodity in the market. Her 1937 oil on canvas, The Story Teller, sold for an astonishing Rs 61.80 crore at a Saffronart auction in September 2023, becoming the most expensive Indian work of art ever sold.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based arts journalist