Christie’s Sells Untitled Gaitonde for $2,393,000 at its Asia Week Auction in New York
It’s one of the lovely rites of the autumn season in New York – viewing iconic South Asian contemporary art over a glass of wine at Christie’s. Art collectors, artists, dealers and art lovers had gathered to view the work of some of India’s noted artists at a reception at Christies in Rockefeller Center. It was a precursor of its auction of South Asian modern + contemporary art as part of Asian Art Week in New York. At the reception there were familiar faces and many new ones, as New York’s South Asian community continues to grow and prosper. Art – both antiquities and contemporary art – is a reminder of their home country and their roots.
The highlight of the evening was Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s magnificent Untitled painting from 1984 and this fetched the highest bid at auction – $2,393,000. This season also marked the birth centenaries of Tyeb Mehta and Krishen Khanna with paintings that feature their most iconic subjects – Mehta’s Trussed Bull and Khanna’s Bandwallas in Processon. Other noted names included Jehangir Sabavala, Sayed Haider Raza, Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain. The auction also featured important works by Jamini Roy, K.H.Ara, KK Hebbar, Sakti Samant, Rashid Choudhury, Nasreen Mohamedi and Ivan Peries, as well as contemporary pieces by Jitish Kallat and Ravinder Reddy.
The auction was 100 percent sold by lot for a total of $12,383,154, or 191 percent hammer and premium above low estimate. Among the notable results in the sale were records that Christie’s set for a work by Sheikh Mohammed Sultan for Untitled (Cultivation), which realized $50,800; for a work by Ivan Peries for Untitled (Figure on the Shore), which made $63,500. There were also records for works on paper by two artists: for Biren De’s Untitled, which brought $20,320; and for Rashid Choudhury’s XXX at $8,890.
Art Collectors, gallerists and art lovers at Christie’s
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