1st February, 2012

Auction house Saffronart is entering into a sale of Western art with its inaugural auction of Impressionist and Modern Art on February 15 and February 16. The first ever auction of Western art in India features 73 works by 35 eminent western artists with a total estimate of US$ 3.3-4.2 million.

The auction offers an opportunity for collectors to acquire works by the legends of the art world including Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Fernand Leger, Camille Pissarro, Salvador Dali and others. The sale includes a variety of paintings, works on paper and sculptures.

A selection of lots from this auction will be previewed at Saffronart's galleries in New Delhi and Mumbai.

On the cover of the catalogue is an early landscape by Vincent Van Gogh, titled, L'allee aux deux promeneurs (Lane with Two Figures). It was painted in the Dutch village of Neunen in 1885, where the 32 year old artist had returned to live after studying in The Hague.

This was a pivotal year for the artist as he obsessively recorded his surroundings and the local farming community. This culminated in the masterpiece of Van Gogh's 'peasant period', The Potato Eaters, in April of the same year.

The Modern section includes several works by Pablo Picasso, including an oil painting titled Le Transformateur of 1953 (estimated at US$400,000-450,000). Also on the sale is a large selection of ceramics by Picasso.

Marc Chagall also features in the auction with a very large and impressive watercolour called L'Echelle au ciel (Ladder to the Sky), estimated at US$280,000-350,000. The sale will also have on offer works by two of the most recognized sculptors, Henry Moore, and Lynn Chadwick.

The auction includes a selection of prints by several of the twentieth century's most respected Western artists including Joan Miro, Henry Moore, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein.

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