Tyeb Mehta work sells for $2.1 mn at Christie’s South Asian auction
June 12th, 2012 - 4:53 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, June 12 (IANS) An untitled painting of Mahishasura by Tyeb Mehta was sold to an Asian institution for $2.1 million (Rs.120 million) at a Christie’s South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale in London Monday, the auction house said.
The auction, which offered paintings by modern masters like S.H. Raza, Rameshwar Broota, M.F. Husain, Bharti Kher and Manjit Bawa sold mostly to Asian trade institutions and archives, indicating a resurgence in institutional buying, the auction house said.
Archival and institutional purchase of art has shown a marked increase after the 2008 economic meltdown and price correction.
Individual collectors are cautious about buying art while several art trade insitutions and private archives, which have sprung across thecontinent as part of a ongoing art infrastructure building wave, have taken over from collectors. Collectors are increasingly donating their personal collections to auction houses, private and art promotions and trade platforms. Christie’s has auctioned several personal collections in the last three months.
Yamini Mehta, Christie’s director and senior specialist in Indian art, said: “The sale performed well across the board with works which were fresh to the market and from private collections securing strong prices.”
She said the auction “demonstrated the breadth of demand for the category, with collectors, institutions and dealersfrom Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East to Europe and the US”.
“Tyeb Mehta and the modern masters, including S.H. Raza. continued to attract healthy competition,” she said.
Raza’s Clocher du Village, sold for $746,397 and an untitled work by Rameshwar Broota was picked up by an European collector for $188,004.
A selection of avant garde art from Pakistan drew aggressive response at the auction.
- Tyeb Mehta's 'Kali' sells for Rs.5.72 crore in online auction - Jun 20, 2011
- Tyeb Mehta, Khoj, Pakistani art to lead Christie's Asian sale (With Image) - May 30, 2012
- Art auction market witnessing new generation of buyers (With Images) - Jul 11, 2012
- Sliding Chinese art mart gives India price edge - Aug 20, 2012
- Asian art seeing a resurgence in global market - Sep 18, 2012
- Tyeb Mehta still rules art auctions - Sep 25, 2011
- Rare Indian, Asian art at Christie's sale (With Images) - Mar 15, 2012
- Tyeb Mehta, Souza lead auction stakes at Christie's - May 26, 2011
- Husain, Souza highlights of OSIAN's auction - Jun 18, 2010
- Four private Indian art archives from US on sale at Sotheby's - Aug 09, 2012
- Tyeb Mehta's work sets new price record at Christie's - Jun 10, 2011
- Painting by Indian artist sold for a record price at London auction - Jun 12, 2010
- Roller coaster year for Indian art (2011 in Retrospect) (With images) - Dec 28, 2011
- Tyeb Mehta's 'falling figure' to lead Christie's fall sale (With Image) - Aug 15, 2012
- Market for antiquities still strong in India: Neville Tuli (With Images) - Jan 30, 2012
Tags: aggressive response, art infrastructure, asian trade, auction house, avant garde art, clocher du village, economic meltdown, institutional buying, institutional purchase, m f husain, mahishasura, manjit bawa, modern masters, personal collections, private archives, private collections, rameshwar broota, trade institutions, tyeb mehta, untitled work