Here is another sign of the art market revival being on fast track.

The annual Spring Online Art Auction of Modern & Contemporary Indian Art from Saffronart has posted strong results.

The leading auction house hosted the auction in the second week of March. The sale comprised 100 lots of by 47 leading Indian artists with an aggregate estimate of $3.6-4.6 million. It included iconic works by some modern masters like FN Souza, SH Raza, Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee and Ram Kumar, as well as contemporary artists such as Subodh Gupta, Anju Dodiya, TV Santhosh, Atul Dodiya and Shibu Natesan.

Seminal works included Raza’s ‘Prakriti Purush’ (2006) estimated at $180,000-220,000; Souza’s ‘Gothic Head’ (1957) at $150,000 – 200,000; Subodh Gupta’s ‘Doot’ (2003) estimated at $180,000 – 240,000; and Shibu Natesan’s ‘Take Me Where I Belong’ (2000) estimated at $55,600 – 66,700. Collectors from over 30 countries drove the competitive bidding activity.

Following are the highlights of the auction:

· 75% of lots on offer were sold.
· The lots sold totaled $ 4.6 Million.
· Nearly 60% of sold lots exceeded their high estimates.
· Akbar Padamsee’s 1953 portrait, Prophet (winning bid $ 278,875) went for over triple its higher estimate. Husain’s 1970s Untitled had a winning bid of over $ 400,000.
· Subodh Gupta’s ‘Doot’ sold for $ 391,000 as against a high estimate of $ 240,000.
· Souza’s ‘Decomposing Head’ price of $ 350,750 was much higher than its high estimate of $ 250,000. Same was the case with works by Raza, Laxma Goud and Jagdish Swaminathan.

Importantly, collectors showed keen interest in works of leading contemporary artists like Shibu Natesan, Sudarshan Shetty and Rajesh Ram.