Saffronart’s summer online auction to feature rare, unseen works by VS Gaitonde & FN Souza

Mumbai, June: Saffronart will conduct its annual Summer Online Auction on 12 – 13 June, 2019, featuring 120 works by leading modern and contemporary artists, many of which are from important collections within India and abroad.

The 24-hour online auction shines a spotlight on eminent Indian Modernist VS Gaitonde, highlighting four works from pivotal periods in his artistic career. Leading the sale is an Untitled painting from 1958 (lot 50), a vibrant red work with fragmented planes. 

Painted when the artist first began veering into a “non-objective” mode of painting, this work is poised at the beginning of Gaitonde’s journey into pure abstraction that made him the highly coveted artist he is among collectors today. 

Estimated at INR 4 – 6 crores (USD 579,715 ‒ 869,570), this previously unseen work was acquired directly from the artist by Urmila and the late Gunvant Mangaldas, who were important art patrons and among the earliest collectors of modern Indian art.

An Untitled oil on canvas work by VS Gaitonde (lot 51), painted over a decade later in 1970, also features in this sale. Estimated at INR 12.42 – 16.56 crores (USD 1.8 ‒ 2.4 million), this lot is painted in an earthy colour palette with Gaitonde’s trademark calligraphic forms floating on the canvas, providing an ethereal quality to the work.

FN Souza’s Untitled (Hampstead) from 1964 is a rare work that has never been seen before in public, and was likely gifted by the artist to Reeves, an artists’ paint company in London, in exchange for using their paint products.

Estimated at INR 1.72 ‒ 2.41 crores (USD 250,000 ‒ 350,000), this restless landscape (lot 29) belongs to a highly lucrative period in Souza’s career, embodying the apocalyptic vision that dominated his paintings in post-war London in the 1960s. The work remained in Reeves’ collection until they were eventually acquired by Colart, an international art supplies company.

Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart’s CEO and Co-Founder said, “The highlights of our Summer Online Auction this year are rare, unseen works by VS Gaitonde and FN Souza, two of India’s leading Modernists.
 

These paintings represent significant milestones in the artists’ distinctive careers and belong to noteworthy collections, presenting a great opportunity for anyone looking to own a masterpiece.

The auction also features significant Indian contemporary artists, as well as artists from South Asia, and comes at an important time that coincides with the second dedicated Indian pavilion at the Venice Biennale.”

Other highlights include a monumental work by Tyeb Mehta representing the artist’s early exploration with form, colour, and texture.
 

Estimated at INR 4 – 6 crores (USD 579,715 ‒ 869,570), Reclining Figure with Bull’s Head, 1963 (lot 67), is an important precursor to Mehta’s seminal figurative works that he perfected in later years. 

The catalogue also includes two works from SH Raza’s Bindu series, a motif that became central to his paintings in later decades. Bindu, 1992 (lot 38) and Nad-Bindu, 2000 (lot 85) are estimated at INR 1.1 ‒ 1.24 crores (USD 160,000 ‒ 180,000) and INR 70 – 90 lakhs (USD 101,450 ‒ 130,435) respectively.

The contemporary section includes works by prominent artists including Atul Dodiya and Jitish Kallat, who are part of the India Pavilion at the ongoing 58th Venice Biennale. 
 

The auction also features a selection of sculptures by Satish Gujral, Himmat Shah, B Vithal, and B Prabha, as well as a thought-provoking installation, Arabian Delight, 2008, (lot 102) estimated at INR 8.28 – 10.35 lakhs (USD 12,000 – 15,000), by Pakistani-born artist Huma Mulji. 

Other South Asian artists featured in the auction include Imran Qureshi and Sri Lankan artists George Keyt and Senaka Senanayake.

The online auction will take place on saffronart.com and is preceded by viewings of select lots in New York, London, Mumbai and New Delhi. All lots can be viewed on the website.
 

Founded in 2000 by Minal and Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart is a leading international auction house, and India’s most reputed, with over two hundred auctions to its credit. Its flagship gallery is in Mumbai, with offices in New Delhi, London and New York. 

At the forefront of selling Indian art, Saffronart has, over the past 19 years, held online and live auctions, exhibitions, and Dialogues in Art, working with collectors, gallerists and artists to develop a strong market for art and aesthetics. 

Its focus is to bring transparency to the auction process, and provide easy access and information to collectors around the world.

Saffronart’s services go beyond auctions to include private sales, appraisals and valuations for clients. Saffronart has set several global benchmarks for online auctions, and was the subject of a case study at Harvard Business School in 2005.
 

AUCTION DATES
12 – 13 June 2019 on saffronart.com

VIEWINGS

New Delhi 
Through 26 May 2019 
11 am – 7 pm, Monday to Saturday
Sunday by appointment
Venue: Saffronart, The Oberoi
Dr Zakir Hussain Marg
New Delhi 110003

Mumbai
1 – 13 June 2019
11 am – 7 pm, Monday to Saturday
Sunday by appointment
Venue: Saffronart, Industry Manor, 
3rd Floor Appasaheb Marathe Marg
Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025

London
6 – 13 June 2019
11 am – 7 pm, Monday to Friday
11 am – 4 pm, Saturday
Sunday by appointment
Venue: 73 New Bond Street, 
1st Floor, London W1S 1RS