Works of Indian master artists auctioned in Mumbai

Mumbai, March 29 (IANS) Reflecting an undying demand for Indian masters' works, an untitled painting by renowned artist V.S. Gaitonde went under the hammer here for Rs 9.6 crore, and Ganesh Pyne's seminal 'Raktakarabi' (1957) for Rs 2.4 crore.

Auctioned by professional auction house Astaguru under its 'Modern Indian' art sale, most of the 40 works on sale crossed the estimates they were put up for, testifying to the maturing of India's art market.

As per the auction house, while Gaitonde's work was estimated to sell between Rs 8-10 crore, Pyne's 'Raktakarabi', based on a similarly titled play by Rabindranath Tagore, was estimated to go under Rs 60 lakh. It, however, sold for Rs 2.4 crore.

It also featured paintings by masters like M.F. Husain, Akbar Padamsee, Ram Kumar, F.N. Souza, Nandalal Bose, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Ganesh Pyne and J. Swaminathan.

Prabhakar Barwe's 1990 work titled 'Canvas Bag' went for more than twice its estimate at Rs 82 lakh.

A national art treasure, 'Arjuna' by Nandalal Bose sold for around Rs 72 lakh.

Another work that did well was the Doll series by Bikash Bhattacharjee. A very well documented and exhibited work, this painting is from one of the artist's most important series and a turning point for him as after this he garnered nation wide acclaim.

Other interesting developments include a rare work by Swaminathan from his tribal series which was sold at Rs 1,48,84,118 and Rameshwar Broota's work from his 'Man' series that was auctioned for Rs 1,35,00,333.

The two-day auction concluded late Thursday.