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New Delhi:
Tyeb Mehta's untitled painting of Hindu deity Kali set a price
precedent at an auction by Saffronart, India's biggest online art
trading forum, selling for Rs.5.72 crore ($1.31 million) over the
weekend, the auction house said Monday.
It is one of the highest prices in the category of work by Mehta
and is the last one that the artist painted in the series.
Tyeb Mehta, who died in 2005, was known for his portrayal of Hindu
gods, goddesses and mythological paintings which he executed in
series. One of his triptychs, "Celebrations", set a record in 2002
at an auction in Christie's when it fetched Rs.1.5 crore
($317,500).
The Saffronart auction, held across all multi-media platforms, saw
bids and underbids worth Rs.15.66 crore ($3.6 million) placed
through mobile phone, an option that Saffronart opened to its
buyers in 2010.
The top-grossers included works by S.H. Raza, Manjit Bawa,
Ravinder Reddy and Jahangir Sabavala. The sale totalled Rs.17.50
crore ($4 million).
Commenting on the auction, Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder of
Saffronart, said: "Tyeb Mehta's 'Untitled (Kali)', is
characterized by a combination of several factors, which played a
role in the premium price it commanded. It is a relatively rare
work, great aesthetic value and excellent provenance. Despite
being a smaller format painting by the artist, the competitive
bidding on it from the beginning of the auction right until the
last minute reflected the collectors' focus on quality."
Vazirani attributed Mehta's appeal in the auction market to the
fact that "he was not as prolific as his peers".
"He did not paint much; his body of work may be just about 400.
There is very little of Tyeb Mehta out there in the market. Mehta
was instrumental in adopting western techniques and interpreting
them in the Indian context. He was also stylistically different
from his peer group," Vazirani told IANS from Mumbai.
The auctioneer said the Indian art market was a mature one. "After
two years of meltdown, collectors now understand the impact of
collecting and are conscious about the quality of art," he said.
In a mature market, collectors do their homework and select from
quality art that have provenance, Vazirani said.
He said: "The number of institutional buyers ((museums) and
individuals aspiring to create private archives were growing in
India."
"An individual who wants to build a museum will buy a work with
provenance because a museum is a place of history, documentation
and good provenance (the origin, procurement source and
authenticity of art)," he said.
He said: "The success of this sale strengthens our core belief
that the internet and the digital platform are ideal mediums to
reach out and engage collectors."
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