26th Nov. 2002

Indian painters get global platform New Delhi, Nov. 26. (UNI): With Indian paintings fetching record prices in the international market, buying them as decorative pieces or to sell further remain good investment options and online auctions now provide the widest platform to the budding as well as veteran artists for putting up their works. Saffronart.com, a company that claims to be one of the most comprehensive sources for Indian modern and contemporary art, is already a part of the online auction bandwagon. Its fourth online winter auction from December 1 to four will allow art connoisseurs the world over to choose from the compositions of leading modernists like M F Hussain, Tyeb Mehta, Ram Kumar, F N Souza, S H Raza to contemporary artists like Atul Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, Baiju Parthan and a host of others. A click of mouse will decide the fate of hundreds of works of art that were previewed here recently. Just a few days back, artist Raja Ravi Varma's "Yashoda and Krishna" was auctioned by Bowrings for Rs 56 lakhs, a world record for the artist and an Indian record for any painting. Its estimated price was Rs 30-40 lakhs. Many cases of Indian paintings being purchased at nominal prices and then resold abroad years later at astronomical sums have been reported in the recent past. This makes art a good investment! Not surprisingly, at the Saffronart auction, the highest price tag has been attached to a Tyeb Mehta Untitled oil on canvas -- Rs 47.5 lakhs to 62.5 lakhs. The 150 X 175 cm piece depicts incomplete figures on a saffron background, merging into each other, may be in search of completeness. The bright colours, in extraordinary juxtaposition, serve to divide the canvas into different areas yet, remaining a comprehensive whole.  

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