Astaguru Auction House to host online sale of Amrita Sher-Gil, Husain, Padamsee works

After the success of its rare books, timepieces, vintage jewellery and vintage and classic cars auctions, Astaguru Auction House now brings some of India’s most compelling modern artists and their art to the block.

The Kala Ghoda-based online auction will host two art sales — Modern Indian Art - No Reserve auction on December 19 and 20, followed by the Modern Indian Art main sale on December 21 and 22.

During the No Reserve auction, Astaguru will present 100 lots, with a standard opening bid of Rs 20,000. The auction will include works of seminal modernists such as Amrita Sher-Gil, Jamini Roy, MF Husain, VS Gaitonde, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Ganesh Pyne, SH Raza, FN Souza, Somnath Hore, Akbar Padamsee, Krishen Khanna and Ram Kumar, to name a few.

The No Reserve format does not have a reserve, making the final bidder the lot winner. One of the highlights at the auction will be a 5.5 feet x 15.5 feet painting that Husain made in 2003. The acrylic on canvas work is from his famous ‘Mother Teresa’ series and is titled ‘Pieta’.

Starting December 21, the main sale will be a star-studded affair. A self-portrait by Sher-Gil from 1934, a 1968 abstract work by Gaitonde and Husain’s first horse painting from 1954 called ‘Passage of Time’ will be the highlights of the sale.

Raza’s painting ‘Gestation’, 1988, considered one of his 20 biggest paintings, will also be on offer. Roy’s rare terracotta Buddha sculpture is another masterpiece online bidders can get their hands on.

Other works include Sailoz Mokherjea’s painting ‘The Mosque’. The image of this painting was printed as one of the four commemorative postage stamps on modern painters of India issued by The Indian Posts & Telegraphs Department in 1978.

Another important artwork that is intertwined with India’s history is that of the poster painted by Nandalal Bose for Congress’s Haripura session in 1938.

Another highlight will be Nicholas Roerich’s ‘Over Ergor Comes a Rides’ from 1927. The 25.2 inches x 48.2 inches painting is the artist’s largest artwork to come up for sale at an Indian auction.

To view the complete auction catalogues, visit www.astaguru.com.

Scribbles, Scratches And Other Abstract Pieces Of Art That Made Millions

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Who says a scribble or a scratch is worthless? Check out these abstracts which sold for a fortune thanks to their minimalistic allure.

Who says a scribble or a scratch is worthless? Check out these abstracts which sold for a fortune thanks to their minimalistic allure.

Cost: $70.5 million

What seems like chalk scribbles on a slate is actually an oil-based house paint and crayon artwork on canvas by Edwin Parker ‘Cy’ Twombly Jr, which fetched a record price for the artist in Christie’s 2014 sale. Part of Twombly’s ‘blackboard’ paintings, the 1970 artwork is inspired by his stint in Pentagon as a cryptologist. What’s interesting is the way he produced this artwork. He sat on the shoulders of a friend, who kept on walking along the length of the canvas, enabling Twombly to create fluid lines. The painting’s then owner, Audrey Irmas, a philanthropist, parted with the painting to raise funds for her foundation for social justice. Interestingly, Irmas bought the painting for $3.85 million in 1990.

(Image: www.christies.com)

Cost: $70.5 million What seems like chalk scribbles on a slate is actually an oil-based house paint and crayon artwork on canvas by Edwin Parker ‘Cy’ Twombly Jr, which fetched a record price for the..

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Cost: $1.65 million

Once part of the Robert and Jean Shoenberg collection, this 1961 artwork came into the market at Christie’s 2008 sale. Kelly was a camouflage artist during his stint in the army in the 1940s. He was a part of the unit known as ‘the Ghost army’ comprising artists and designers who painted objects that would misdirect enemy soldiers.

(Image: www.christies.com)

Cost: $1.65 million Once part of the Robert and Jean Shoenberg collection, this 1961 artwork came into the market at Christie’s 2008 sale. Kelly was a camouflage artist during his stint in the army ..

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Cost: $86.88 million (including buyer’s premium)

The vibrant orange, red and yellow coloured rectangles was part of art collector David Pincus’s estate and was brought to the market by Christie’s in 2012 where its sale set the record for post war/ contemporary art at the time. Rothko’s 1961 work was in Pincus’s possession for four-and-a-half decades. The final bid was double the highest estimate of the artwork.

(Image: www.markrothko.org)

Cost: $86.88 million (including buyer’s premium) The vibrant orange, red and yellow coloured rectangles was part of art collector David Pincus’s estate and was brought to the market by Christie’s i..

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Cost: $16.2 million

The 24 sharp vertical tears on a crimson, water-painted seven- foot wide canvas was contested for about a minute and 30 seconds during Sotheby’s 2015 auction. Yet, the painting was sold below the low presale estimate of $15 million. Turns out, Fontana was inspired to paint this artwork watching Red Desert, a 1964 movie created by Michelangelo Antonioni, which won the Golden Lion in that year’s Venice Film Festival. In fact, the inscription on the back of the painting, in Italian, reads, “I returned yesterday from Venice, I saw Antonioni’s film!!!”

(Image: www.sothebys.com)

Cost: $16.2 million The 24 sharp vertical tears on a crimson, water-painted seven- foot wide canvas was contested for about a minute and 30 seconds during Sotheby’s 2015 auction. Yet, the painting ..

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Cost: $84.16 million

Newman’s 1961 stark black palette on a pale canvas was part of Christie’s post-war and contemporary evening sale auction in 2014. Newman started dabbling in abstract expression while he was mourning the death of his younger brother George. About the painter’s black fixation, art expert Thomas Hess recalled Newman saying, “When an artist wants to change, when he wants to invent, he goes to black as it is a way of clearing the table-of getting to new ideas.” The painting is in the possession of a private collector now. Its previous owner had the painting for nearly 40 years.

(Image: www.christies.com)

Cost: $84.16 million Newman’s 1961 stark black palette on a pale canvas was part of Christie’s post-war and contemporary evening sale auction in 2014. Newman started dabbling in abstract expression..

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