Spotlight on unsung masters at Sotheby's Indian art auction

While the big ticket works always manage to garner the bulk of attention in any auction, the upcoming sale is a pleasant surprise for the focus it is putting on two unsung sculptors of India, deserving of far more attention than they have garnered so far. These are Meera Mukherjee (1923-98) and Amar Nath Sehgal (1922-2007), both modernists who breached new frontiers in Indian sculpture

The Asian Art Week, held traditionally every spring in New York - albeit for a fortnight - features the best of Asian Art in museum and gallery shows, and at the auctions, of which the Sotheby's sale on 21 March is a part. The other big auction of South Asian art during this period will be held by Christie's on 23 March, featuring the Mahinder and Sharad Tak Collection of Indian art (which this column has already discussed on 22 February). This will also be the period when Affordable Art Fair will be held in the Big Apple, from 23 – 27 March

At the upcoming Asian Art Week in New York, the Sotheby's auction of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art will have two distinct focus areas that should warm the cockles of the heart of any genuine lover of Indian art - unsung sculptors Meera Mukherjee and Amar Nath Sehgal, and Madhubani artist Baua Devi.

The Asian Art Week, held traditionally every spring in New York - albeit for a fortnight - features the best of Asian Art in museum and gallery shows, and at the auctions, of which the Sotheby's sale on 21 March is a part. The other big auction of South Asian art during this period will be held by Christie's on 23 March, featuring the Mahinder and Sharad Tak Collection of Indian art (which this column has already discussed on 22 February). This will also be the period when Affordable Art Fair will be held in the Big Apple, from 23 – 27 March.

But before we venture into the tantalizing finds at the big-ticket Sotheby's auction, let us pay obeisance to the lords of this ring, viz., the masters of modern Indian art who rule the market and for whose works the connoisseurs dig deeper into their pockets with each passing year.

The Market Rulers

The top lot on offer at the Sotheby's auction is, as expected, an oil on canvas by Vasudeo S Gaitonde (1924-2001), the late reclusive artist one of whose works holds the record for the most expensive Indian painting ever sold, at Rs 39.98 crore. At Sotheby's, his abstract work titled Painting 4 is estimated between $1.5 m and $2 m (approx. Rs 11.4 crore – Rs 15.2 crore). It is a calm composition in yellow, ochre and black, painted in 1972 soon after the artist had shifted to New Delhi. It is almost like a gentle call into the silent depths of the artist's mind, who was a man of few words, and expressed himself best through superlative abstract works such as this one.

This is followed by an Untitled oil on canvas by Jehangir Sabavala (1922-2011), estimated between $600,000 – $800,000 (approx. Rs 4.5 crore – Rs 6.1 crore). Painted in 1977, it's a serene landscape in a muted palette evoking a sort of spiritual calmness, as seen through the eyes of three village women at the bottom of the work, who have stopped on their way to admire the mesmerising power of quiet nature.

Next is The Castle, a 1957 oil by FN Souza (1924-2002), estimated between $300,000 – $500,000 (approx. Rs 2.29 crore – Rs 3.8 crore). It captures a European castle with the night sky in the background. Made during his London sojourn where Souza had shifted in 1949 and tasted stupendous success, this work is one of the several European landscapes that the artist made during his prolific career; landscapes are an important part of Souza's repertoire, though, unfortunately, they almost always get overshadowed by his nudes.

The rising stars of the Indian auction market — Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003) and Manjit Bawa (1941-2008) — complete the top five lots on offer. They are estimated at the same price points as the Souza work, (approx. Rs 2.29 crore – Rs 3.8 crore). Khakhar's Sheikh Shoe Mart is interesting because it hails from the 'trade' series of works that the artist made in the 1970s — of people and shops around his home in Baroda, which offers a glimpse into the world of common folk engrossed in their trade in the backdrop of pop art colours of Khakhar's canvases. Works from this series are increasingly getting popular among collectors with his rising prices at the auctions, though most of those remain in private hands with the artist's friends.

Untitled (Sohni) by Manjit Bawa is a distinctive work by the artist known for placing figures on a colour block background. In this one, Sohni, the heroine of the popular Punjabi folk tale Sohni-Mahiwal, swims across the river Chenab to meet her beloved.

The unsung masters

While the big ticket works always manage to garner the bulk of attention in any auction, the upcoming sale is a pleasant surprise for the focus it is putting on two unsung sculptors of India, deserving of far more attention than they have garnered so far. These are Meera Mukherjee (1923-98) and Amar Nath Sehgal (1922-2007), both modernists who breached new frontiers in Indian sculpture.

Two of Mukherjee's works are on offer: Untitled (Mango Orchard), a beautiful, undated bronze work showing children atop a mango tree; and a 1981 bronze, titled Santur Player. The former is estimated between $80,000 – $120,000 (approx. Rs 61.1 lakh – Rs 91.7 lakh) while the latter is estimated at $50,000 – $70,000 (approx. Rs 38.2 lakh – Rs 53.4 lakh).

Hailing from Rajshahi in present-day Bangladesh, Mukherjee came to Calcutta to study at the Indian Society of Oriental Art in the late 1930s. She studied modern sculpture in Germany and the traditional metal craft techniques in Bastar, South India and Nepal. In fact, her Santur Player shows distinctive influence of the Dhokra sculptures of Bastar in central India.

Sehgal, on the other hand, worked across a variety of media throughout his career but earned renown as a sculptor. His 1986 bronze, Nari, is estimated at $24,000 – $34,000 (approx. Rs 18.3 lakh – Rs 25.9 lakh), while an earlier work, Lovers, 1957, is estimated at $15,000 – $20,000 (approx. Rs 11.4 lakh – Rs 15.2 lakh). The latter evokes long-limbed sculptural figures by the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti but it's the distance between the two lovers that is the most striking aspect of Sehgal's work.

Mainstreaming Madhubani

Other lots to watch out for are two Madhubani works by Baua Devi (b. 1940), one of the best-known contemporary practitioners of this traditional folk art from Bihar. Both her works on offer — Untitled (Radha Krishna) and Sita Harana (Abduction of Sita) — are priced at $700 – $900 (approx. Rs 53,000 – Rs 68,900). For the levels of global art prices, these are still affordable yet great quality works, which must help the cause of the rich, folk art forms from different regions of India. After all, Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam's Paysage avec Araignée (Landscape with Spider), sold for $31,250 (approx. Rs 23 lakh) in September 2010 at a Sotheby's auction. That's a benchmark which the folk and tribal art forms of India must achieve in the days to come, and even go beyond.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist, editor and arts consultant)