15th May 2006

Modern art's the hottest pick here Indian art auctions are maintaining their upbeat tempo. Top domestic auctioneer Saffronart has churned out a sale of Rs 56 crore ($12.9m) at its summer auction of Indian modern art pieces.

The show sold out 97% of the 150 lots that were on offer. Based on the overall results, the per lot average price works out to Rs 40 lakh. FN Souza's Landscape In Orange has swung the highest price of around Rs 3 crore.

'It was a very encouraging sale. Not only did 146 of the 150 lots sell out, we saw 91% of the lots being picked up above the higher estimate. There were also 500 registered bidders which has again surpassed the number of bidders in our last auction of leading Indian modern artists,' Dinesh Vazirani, director, Saffronart, told ET. 'Close to 30% of the bidders were also new to the sale.

This converted into around 35% of the final buyers being fresh,' he added.Given the growing clutch of bidders participating in the sale, the spread of countries represented in the auction embraced India, the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE and Japan.

There were also places like Kuwait, Malaysia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Mr Vazirani said, 15 paintings shot past the Rs 1-crore-mark, with four of them being lapped up above Rs 2.5 crore. Together with the Souza work, which almost touched the Rs 3-crore figure, Tyeb Mehta's Situation was sold for Rs 2.7 crore. Akbar Padamsee's Mirror Image and MF Husain's Holi also fetched similar final prices.

Jogen Chowdhury has whizzed past the Rs 1-crore figure for the first time. The Bengal artist has scaled an amount of Rs 1.45 crore. In tandem, Ram Kumar has gone for Rs 1.44 crore, Souza's Priest Rs 1.55 crore, Raza's La Terre Rs 1.45 crore. 'Suddenly, one is seeing a lot of interest in paperworks. This includes drawings, watercolours, temperas and jottings. Works in this genre have all been repriced this time,' Mr Vazirani said.

'There are quite a few significant trends in the auction. We have witnessed a visible repricing of paperworks. People are now interested in quality pieces and that's not restricted to canvases.

They are keen on all medium and surfaces. While top-end works have seen a steady increase, middle-level pieces have appreciated too. New bidders have also entered the fray with the intention of buying. Besides, 85% of the buyers were Indians. The market now is strong, has depth and is here to stay,' Mr Vazirani said while another Souza's landscape titled Pink City has attracted a price of Rs 1.35 crore.

Giving instances, he said that Lalu Prasad Shaw's temperas on paper have sold for around Rs 9 lakh, a Manjit Bawa paperwork has found a sale price of Rs 18-19 lakh and a Souza paperwork, Flagellation has hit a huge figure of Rs 50 lakh. Ganesh Pyne's jottings have sold in the range of Rs 3-4 lakh. ASHOKE NAG

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