Padamsee painting sells for Rs 19 crores, sets record

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) Akbar Padamsee’s ‘Greek Landscape’fetched a record Rs 19.19 crores at Saffronart’s eveningsale here, making it the most expensive painting by the artistever to sell at an auction. "Padamsee’s ‘Greek Landscape’ trumped all expectations.The 4.3 x 12 foot canvas, estimated at Rs 7–9 crores, doubledits upper estimate. The winning bid surpassed the previousworld record of Rs 9.3 crores, set by Sotheby’s in 2011 for’Reclining Nude'(1960)," Hugo Weihe, auctioneer and CEO ofSaffronart said in a statement today. One of the four "works in grey" to be offered at theauction, the 1960 imagined cityscape was painted in a paletteof varying intensities of grey and is believed to haveestablished him as a master. The artwork was first exhibited at the Jehangir ArtGallery in Mumbai and received particular attention at thetime for its revolutionary approach and monumental scale. The modern Indian art auction had a total of 87 lotsfrom private collections, both across India and abroad andachieved a total sale value of Rs 68.55 crores againstpre-sale estimate of Rs 62.1 – 87.8 crores. The auction that witnessed the sale for 79 per cent of thelots, featured seminal works of revolutionary Indian artistsfrom the post-Independence years. Nasreen Mohamedi’s 1960 oil on canvas fetched Rs 2.4crores against a pre-sale estimate of Rs 2 – 3 crores, settinga world auction record for the artist. "We are thrilled with the world auction records we set.The sale provided a greater spectrum of Modernist works, andworks rarely seen at auction were well received. We were alsogratified by the interest shown by international collectors,"Weihe said. Gaganendranath Tagore’s ‘Ruben’s Sketch Book’ sold for Rs1.8 crores against an estimate of Rs 1.5 – 2 crores setting aworld auction record for the artist. Among the top lots were V S Gaitonde’s Untitled oil oncanvas (1970), estimated at Rs 10 – 15 crores which sold forRs 10.12 crores, M F Husain’s ‘Dreams’ (1979) estimated at Rs3–5 crores sold for Rs 4.44 crores, S H Raza’s ‘La Terre'(1986) sold for INR 3.84 crores (USD 581,818). "Artists such as Ila Pal, A A Raiba, Sir Jacob Epstein andG M Solegaonkar, whose works are relatively rare at auctions,were also well received," Saffronart said. PTI TRS BKTRS