New York, New York – Sotheby’s New York spring sales of Indian and Southeast Asian Art, including 240 lots of Modern Paintings, Works of Art and Miniatures, brought a total of $12,133,626 (est. $10,576,200/15,575,800*). The Indian Art sale, which included Modern Paintings, achieved $5,106,875 (est. $4.8/6.8 million), and the Indian and Southeast Asian Art sale, which included Works of Art and Miniatures, realized $7,026,751 (est. $5.7/8.5 million).
Indian Art
Works by M.F. Husain dominated the top prices achieved in today’s sale, which also included important Modern paintings by J. Swaminathan, Rameshwar Broota, F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, Ganesha Pyne and Arpita Singh, among others. The sale was led by his Untitled work from 1953, which sold for $409,000 to an Indian Dealer (lot 13, est. $200/300,000). The painting bears a striking similarity to another work from 1952 titled Pull, and both form part of a group of works inspired by the village puppeteer. Another Untitled work from 1953, which shows a female figure holding a lamp, a central theme in his early works, brought $289,000, selling to an American Private Collector (lot 11, est. $100/150,000). An Untitled painting of a nude and horse, an enduring theme in Husain’s works since the 1950s, achieved $265,000, selling to an Indian Dealer (lot 12, est. $200/300,000).
Zara Porter Hill, Head of Sotheby’s Indian and Southeast Asian Art department, said: “Today’s sale was very solid, with a strong and discerning buying group seeking out top quality Modern works with good provenance. In a full salesroom with consistent bidding, we witnessed strong demand international for works by Husain.”
F.N. Souza’s Head of a Man (lot 18, est. $280/380,000), which engages a format that the artist used repeatedly, that of a head and torso painted on a plain background, brought $313,000, selling to a Dealer. His Femme Nue, 1952, sold for $241,000, selling to an Indian Dealer (lot 20, est. $180/220,000); in this work, the woman’s confident gaze unnerves the viewer, both acknowledging her blatant sexuality and vulnerability.
Other works that highlighted the sale included an Untitled work by S. H. Raza, 1960, which brought $241,000, selling to an American Private collector (lot 25, est. $100/150,000) and shows the artist’s movement towards a less structured composition, focused upon a visual language of form and color; an Untitled abstract work by J. Swaminathan, 1971, which achieved $229,000, selling to an Indian Dealer (lot 33, est. $180/220,000); and an Untitled work by Rameshwar Broota, which realized $169,000, selling to an Anonymous buyer (lot 10, est. $50/70,000), depicts a portrait of a man, but an unsettling disquiet surrounds the figure, almost as if details are being erased.
Indian and Southeast Asian Art, including Miniatures
The spring sale, which featured a number of extraordinary works of exceptional quality and provenance, highlighted by a gilt copper Buddha Shakyamuni, Tibet, 14th/15th century from a Private European Collection, which sold for $1,385,000 to an American buyer (lot 308, est. $1.5/2.5 million). This exceptionally fine and radiant sculpture is one of the largest and most important early Tibetan gilt bronze figures of Shakyamuni Buddha outside Tibet.
Theresa McCullough, Senior Specialist for the Works of Art section of the sale, commented: “The top end of today’s sale was dominated by sculpture, and we saw some impressive prices for this category, particularly for the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Khmer torsos, and works from Tibet and Southeast Asia performed well. Bidding was international, with a strong distribution between America and Asia, as well as Europe.” Zara Porter Hill continued: “We saw continued demand for top quality Miniature paintings, with most lots selling for many times above their high estimates.”
Other highlights of the sale included a Khmer gray sandstone torso of a Male Deity, Baphuon, first half 11th century, being offered from Distinguished Private Collection, which sold for $421,000 to a European Private collector (lot 241, est. $400/600,000); a torso of a female deity, sandstone, Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, late 11th century, which achieved $361,000, over seven times its high estimate, selling to an American Private collector (lot 242, est. $30/50,000); and a Vajrasattva, made of gilt copper and semi-precious stones, Tibet, 13th century, also offered from a Private European Collection, which sold for $361,000 to an Asian Private collector (lot 302, est. $300/400,000).
The selection of 38 miniatures soared and was highlighted by an illustration from the Bhagavata Purana: The Gopis Gather on the Banks of the Yamuna in Anticipation of Krishna’s Arrival, India, Bikaner, circa 1690-1770, which sold for $193,000 to an American Dealer (lot 223, est. $20/30,000).
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
Sotheby’s New York Spring 2008 Asian Art Auction Schedule:
March 17 Contemporary Art Asia: China Japan Korea
March 18 Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
March 19 Indian Art
March 19 Indian and Southeast Works of Art, Including Miniatures
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring 2008 Auction Schedule at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre:
April 8 Fine Chinese Paintings
April 8 Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings
April 9 Contemporary Chinese Art
April 10 Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite
April 10 Important Watches
April 11 Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Sotheby’s London Spring 2008 Asian Art Auction Schedule
May 14 Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Sotheby’s Paris Spring 2008 Asian Art Auction Schedule
June 12 Arts of Asia
**Sales information and dates are subject to change**