Husain joins million-dollar club
February 25th, 2008 - 5:50 pm ICT by admin
New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) Maqbool Fida Husain’s oil painting “Tribute to Hashmi”, a homage to slain theatre activist Safdar Hashmi painted in 1989, has set a milestone for the celebrated artist at the Emami Chisel Art auction in Kolkata by raking in Rs.44 million ($1.1 million). “This is the first time a Husain painting crossed the $1 million mark, placing the master in the million-dollar club with S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza, Amrita Sher-Gil and Tyeb Mehta,” Vikram Bachawat, director of Emami Chisel Art, told IANS from Kolkata over phone.
The highest price that an Indian painting has commanded so far is nearly Rs.64 million ($1.6 million) for a Tyeb Mehta work.
The auction, the first for Emami Chisel Art, was the country’s first combination auction involving global online bidding, spot bids and bidding over phone.
Over 200 art lovers, one-off buyers and investors thronged the auction premises at Emami Towers, in the heart of Kolkata. “We also had successful online bids from the US and Mauritius,” Bachawat said.
The highlights of the auction were Tyeb Mehta’s “Kali III” that went off the rack at $1.1 million - on par with Husain - followed by J. Swaminathan’s “Bird & Mountain” which fetched Rs.500,000. A painting by young artist Sekhar Roy fetched Rs.11.5 million, while a Ganesh Pyne sold for Rs.62.5 million.
“Notwithstanding difficult market conditions, the evening saw total sales touch Rs.24 crore (Rs.240 million). It indicates that art is perhaps a better investment than most others. Nearly 91 percent, comprising 79 of the 89 paintings up for grabs by 70 artists, were sold,” the auctioneer said.
Commenting on the prices, industry sources said domestic auction houses like Emami Chisel would soon give global auctioneers a run for their money because this is the first time top line artists commanded such hefty prices in a domestic auction and set so many records.
Emami plans to hold its next auction in September featuring contemporary artists.
- Husain fetches Rs.1.45 crore at art auction - Nov 06, 2011
- Arpita Singh sets record as art mart booms again - Dec 11, 2010
- Tyeb Mehta's 'Kali' sells for Rs.5.72 crore in online auction - Jun 20, 2011
- Roller coaster year for Indian art (2011 in Retrospect) (With images) - Dec 28, 2011
- Tyeb Mehta still rules art auctions - Sep 25, 2011
- Tyeb Mehta's work sets new price record at Christie's - Jun 10, 2011
- Husain, Souza highlights of OSIAN's auction - Jun 18, 2010
- Family, friends recall Husain, colossus of Indian art - Sep 17, 2011
- Market for antiquities still strong in India: Neville Tuli (With Images) - Jan 30, 2012
- Tyeb Mehta, Souza lead auction stakes at Christie's - May 26, 2011
- Raza, Husain, Souza top grossers in online art auction - Sep 14, 2010
- Encounters with Husain, Pyne, Bawa...An art critic remembers (With Image) - Feb 19, 2012
- For M.F. Husain, Shahnaz Husain was empress Noor Jahan (With Images) - Jul 03, 2011
- Tyeb Mehta's last work open to viewers - Jan 12, 2011
- Art travels responsible road in India, markets look up (2010 in Retrospect) (With Image) - Dec 21, 2010
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