Modern masters M F Husain, Sabavala in online auction

New Delhi, Sep 13: Artworks executed by MF Husain and Jehangir Sabavala, two stalwart Indian artists who passed away this year are up for grabs at the Saffronart online autumn auction later this month.

Out of the 70 works by 32 artists availaible in the September 21-22 auction, nine are by Husain and two by Sabavala.

Other modern artists featured include S H Raza and Arpita Singh.

Works by contemporary artists like Atul Dodiya, Shibu Natesan, Anju Dodiya, Subodh Gupta and Surendran Nair are also availible in the sale estimated by the auction house to fetch Rs 26.7 crore to Rs 35.2 crore.

"The well-curated catalogue of works of strong provenance by modern and contemporary Indian artists, offers yet another opportunity for collectors all over the world to acquire the fine, high quality artworks" says Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and Co -founder Saffronart.

Sabavala, who passed away at the age of 89 on September 3 this year was known for his visionary cubist landscapes populated with archetypal personages.

The upcoming auction has two lots both oil on canvasses "The Inland Seas II (1973) and "Flight of Cranes II" (2004) estimated between Rs 40,00,000-Rs 50,00,000 and Rs 52,80,000- Rs 66,00,000 each.

Previously in 2010, his work "Casuarina Line" fetched Rs 1.7 crore at a Saffronart auction.

Similarly, nine canvases by M F Husain who died on June 9 this year are on offer. Mostly they are oil or acrylic on canvas with one untitled 1983 lot being ink on paper.

Leading the auction, however is Tyeb Mehta's untitled 1981 portrait, estimated at Rs 4.4 crore to 6.6 crore.

In his meticulously executed and fundamentally figurative body of sketches and paintings, Mehta drew heavily on personal experiences and images of struggle and survival that haunted him through his life.

Another monumental work in this auction is Arpita Singh's 2003 triptych, "Tarot Card Reading." Singh uses her vivid palette to comment, from the perspective of her aging female protagonists, on the vagaries of time as well as the uncertainty of the future.

Amongst the contemporary lots, is Subodh Gupta's 2007 canvas, "Steal 1." Surendran Nair's 2000 canvas, "Epiphany: The Parable of the Swines," is part of his ongoing suite of works titled Cuckoonebulopolis (referencing the ideal cloud world between heaven and earth that Aristophanes imagined in his satire ''Birds'').

PTI