21st June, 2012

S.H. Raza’s 1985 work “Encountre” sold for a spectacular 3.15 crore INR at Saffronart’s Summer Auction, which was held between June 19 and 20. The price fetched by “Encountre” is almost a crore more than what Saffronart had estimated.

The 1971 untitled work by V.S. Gaitonde, which was projected as the star attraction, was the second most expensive painting at the auction. It sold for 2.84 crores INR, which fell within the price range the auction house had estimated for it. Raza’s 1995 “Germination” sold for 1.81 crore INR, making it the third most expensive lot.

Subodh Gupta’s 2007 untitled oil painting sold at 1.16 crore INR, marginally higher than M.F. Husain’s 2005 untitled work, which sold for 1.o2 crore INR.

Of the 70 paintings that came under the hammer, 60 paintings were sold.

While most of the paintings went for prices that fell between the ranges predicted by Saffronart, there were several surprises as well. Husain’s 1997 “Madhuri-Mother-Madonna” sold for 24 lakh INR, more than double of its estimated price. Similarly, G. Prabha’s 1966 untitled work sold for 12.7 lakh INR, when its estimate was between 5.5 to 7.5 lakh INR; Badri Narayan’s “Ganesh” sold for 5.9 lakh INR, six times more than its estimate, and Thota Vaikuntam’s 2012 untitled work sold for 23 lakh INR, which is almost twice its estimate.

Including buyer’s premium, the total sale value of the Saffronart Summer auction was 16.7 crore INR.

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