28th August, 2010

Saffronart, the Mumbai-based auction house, is coming up with a sale of modern and contemporary art. Ninety works by 43 artists are on offer, with a total overall estimate of Rs. 30-40 crore.

"We have museum quality works together with quality ones for people who want to enter the market. Today, there's interest and demand for art again, specifically strong works by modern masters," Dinesh Vazirani, director, Saffronart, told ET.

The tallest estimate for a piece in the auction is SH Raza's Bartiya Samaroh (Festival of India), pegged at Rs. 2.8-3.7 crore. The work, incidentally, features on the cover of the book on Raza, titled Mandalas, which has been published in France.

According to Mr Vazirani, the auction catalogue also includes an assortment of works by famed artists like FN Souza, Jogen Chowdhury, Jehangir Sabavala, Krishen Khanna, Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee, Ganesh Pyne and Arpita Singh.

"We have a Meera Mukherjee sculpture which is one of the strongest of the modern era," Mr Vazirani informed.

The contemporary artists range across Subodh Gupta, a monumental Ravinder Reddy, Riyas Komu, Jitish Kallat, Nataraj Sharma and Surendran Nair, among others.

Dwelling on some of the other estimates, he went on to mention a Husain 'Untitled' which is placed at Rs. 1.1-1.3 crore, a Tyeb Mehta at Rs. 80 lakh to Rs. 1 crore, a Jogen Chowdhury which is estimated to go for Rs. 60-70 lakh, Manjit Bawa for Rs. 1-1.25 crore and Jehangir Sabavala is valued in the range of Rs. 70-90 lakh.

In tandem, in the younger generation of selections, Subodh Gupta is going in the bracket of Rs. 98 lakh to Rs. 1.38 crore and Ravinder Reddy Rs. 1-1.5 crore.

Mr Vazirani feels the presale reserve prices are "competitive" and the aim is to reach out to "individual collectors, museums and institutions".

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