A global company with deep Indian roots, Saffronart was founded in 2000 on the strength of a private passion. Remaining committed to this passion and personal values, today Saffronart is a strong and successful international business that both embraces and drives change.

With over ten years of experience in auctioning Indian art online, Saffronart is committed to serving the growing community of Indian collectors, while also creating a cultural bridge to India for both the global Indian diaspora and the international community at large. Providing a platform that enables access to view, purchase and become involved in the development of Indian art and jewellery globally, Saffronart has set global benchmarks for online auctions and was recently the subject of a case study at Harvard Business School. In October 2008, Saffronart extended its unique online auction platform to host its inaugural sale of Fine Jewels and Watches, adding a new dimension to its online and market presence.

In April 2010, Saffronart leveraged its online presence and global reach to introduce a new product – Prime Properties in India. Through lavish print and online catalogues of luxury city apartments and holiday homes for private sale, Saffronart’s Prime Properties service broadens the reach of the traditional real estate firm and offers clients a selection of the most exclusive properties available in India.

In January 2011, Saffronart opened its newest gallery space and office in New Delhi at the Oberoi Hotel, with an exhibition of works by V.S. Gaitonde, one of India’s most esteemed modern artists.

With online auctions, a host of technology enabled services for clients, and a global presence in Mumbai, New York, London and Delhi, Saffronart has broadened and simplified access to Indian art and jewelry, and is working to achieve the same for real estate. In collaboration with eminent institutions, organizations and publications, the company endeavors to provide accurate and timely information on Indian artists, designers, events and trends.

THE SAFFRONART WEBSITE
The website www.saffronart.com, as the online location for all Saffronart auctions, is central to the services Saffronart provides. In addition the website also lists art, jewellery and properties for online or private sale. It offers convenient access to an extensive range of art for sale, along with detailed information on artists and art-related events and exhibitions. The online catalogue has several thousand works of fine art by approximately 1,000 established and emerging artists, available for sale and delivery virtually anywhere in the world, accompanied by a Saffronart authenticity certificate. In 2009, Saffronart launched an online fixed price jewelry catalogue along with thematic monthly collections of jewels for sale, and a jewelry guide and glossary on the website. In April 2010, Saffronart introduced its Prime Properties online catalogue on the website as well.

SAFFRONART IN MUMBAI, NEW YORK, LONDON AND DELHI
Saffronart’s gallery spaces in Mumbai, Delhi and New York, and its offices in London provide access to a substantial range of art, information and advice. The gallery space in Mumbai opened with a definitive collection of works by Francis Newton Souza in 2003 and through the years has followed this with several partner gallery exhibitions and auction previews. Most recently, Saffronart Mumbai hosted a preview for its Spring 2011 art auction. Saffronart’s space in New York, at the prestigious Fuller Building, is a large viewing area, lounge and office, which opened with a preview of its 2007 Summer Online Auction, followed by a major retrospective of S.H. Raza’s work. Saffronart London opened on New Bond Street, London, in 2008, and our newest gallery in Delhi opened at the Oberoi Hotel in January 2011.

SAFFRONART EVENTS
Auctions: Saffronart has held several highly successful online auctions, accompanied by physical catalogues and preview events in Mumbai and New York. These auctions allow bidders around the world to participate simultaneously in exciting sales. The most recent Saffronart online art auction was held in March 2011 and featured 120 works by 57 modern and contemporary Indian artists. The sale closed at a total value of USD 3.1 million. In February 2011 Saffronart launched a new series of 24-Hour auctions with a 60 lot auction of contemporary Indian art which raised USD 750,000.

Exhibitions: Over the last nine years Saffronart has organized several curated exhibitions, both physical and online. In January 2011, Saffronart opened its Delhi gallery with the exhibition ‘V.S. Gaitonde: Works from Private Collections’, and in January 2010 Saffronart hosted a retrospective of the work of Krishen Khanna at the historic Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi. Prior to these exhibitions, Saffronart presented the shows ‘A New Vanguard: Trends in Contemporary Indian Art’ in New York with the Guild Art Gallery in September 2009, and ‘Bapu’, curated by Gayatri Sinha, in Mumbai in January 2009. In September 2008, Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery hosted a major F.N. Souza retrospective in New York, and, in 2007, Saffronart held an exhibition of modern and contemporary Indian sculpture, an S.H. Raza retrospective, and solo shows of the work of G.R. Iranna, Himmat Shah and Krishen Khanna. Saffronart has previously held large scale exhibitions of modern and contemporary Indian art in Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, New Delhi and Singapore.

SAFFRONART SERVICES
Responding to the needs of today’s collectors, Saffronart offers a range of services including art advisory, private sales, appraisals and valuations, and specialized art storage. Through these personalized services, our dedicated team of professionals provides collectors with a comprehensive set of options to evolve and care for their collections over time. Most recently, Saffronart launched its mobile website ‘m.saffronart.com’ and a downloadable mobile auction application, the first of its kind globally, which allows collectors to monitor and bid at Saffronart auctions from data-enabled mobile devices including the Blackberry and iPhone.