New 24-hour format online auction

New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) Works by 41 leading Indiancontemporary artists went under the hammer to generate Rs 3.3crore total sales in the first 24-hour online auction bySaffronart, marking a new format for purchase and sale ofIndian art.

The sale offered art collectors and dealers access toa range of contemporary paintings, sculptures and photographs,and was accompanied by online and mobile catalogues accordingto information released by the auction house today.

New and seasoned collectors snapped up 82 per cent ofthe total 60 lots featured in the auction in competitivebidding that saw 55 per cent of the lots exceeding their upperestimates.

The 60 lots included works by Subodh Gupta, JyothiBasu, Mithu Sen, Bari Kumar, Anju Dodiya, G Ravinder Reddyand Praneet Soi amongst others.

Works by N S Harsha, Bari Kumar and Dhananjay Singhwitnessed great interest from bidders, exceeding their higherestimates in the first few hours of the auction.

These included Singh�s untitled watercolour which soldfor Rs 1.08 Lakhs, more than three times its high estimate andHarsha�s untitled work on paper, which crossed its upperestimate by more than four times to sell at Rs 2.59 lakhs.

Anita Dube�s photographic work "Remembering Ekalavya",which sold for Rs 5.3 lakhs which was double its estimatedsale price.

The condensed and thematic adaptations of Saffronart�smore comprehensive annual seasonal auctions offer aimed atoffering art collectors and the art trade more frequentavenues to access and sell art, did not have a print catalogueor preview events and was preceded by a short burst of online-only marketing.

�The success of the auction strengthens our corebelief that the accessibility and convenience of the Internetmakes it an ideal medium for collectors of art," said DineshVazirani, Co-founder and CEO, Saffronart.

"The auction house plans to add several more to theIndian art auction calendar, providing collectors morefrequent avenues for accessing and selling quality Indianart,� he said. PTI ANS PAT