Osian's auction registers sale of Rs 39.8 crore

Mumbai, Feb 1 (UNI) An auction by the city-based art house has registered a total sale of Rs 39.8 crore (hammer price plus 20 per cent buyers' premium) here.

The auction ''Masterpieces&Museum Quality Series'' held by Osian last evening featured a collection of 139 art works, including drawings, paintings and sculptures, of which were some of the best from National Art Treasures, some of the rarest works of Indian Contemporary Art and the finest sculptures. The average price for the auction was Rs 44.62 lakh, a release said here today.

Iconic works by V S Gaitonde, Amrita Sher-Gil, Akbar Padamsee, S H Raza and F N Souza among others, created a genuine excitement for collectors.

Several previous price thresholds were broken for artists such as Manjit Bawa, Satish Gujral, Rabindranath Tagore, A R Chughtai, G R Santosh, Jyoti Bhatt, Navjot and Bharti Kher. Further, Sankho Chaudhuri's 'Untitled' work in bronze and Prodosh Dasgupta's 'Halves' in bronze also set records for sculptures.

The paperworks by Somnath Hore witnessed a record setting bid.

There was a significant increase in the international buyer interest.

Osian's Connoisseurs of Art Pvt Ltd chairman Neville Tuli said ''The market is maturing quickly and now the work specific qualities far outweigh the importance of the mere signature. Historical significance is now clearly the most important factor in determining the value of art and the public perception is slowly getting the message.'' ''The Indian buyer is holding their own against the Indian international buyer. The next major boom is around the corner, once credit enters the market, collateralisation of art is more transparent, corporate policy begins to allocate specific funds for art collections and the international community starts looking at the Indian art as part of world art on its own terms,'' she added.

UNI