Demonetisation plays spoiler at Christie's fourth India auction

The Central government’s demonetisation drive has cast a shadow over the art market, as was witnessed at Christie’s fourth India auction, held in Mumbai last month.

Bengaluru-based art collector Abhishek Poddar, who put up around 41 works for sale to raise funds for a planned museum in the IT city, said the country’s current mood put a dampener on the event.

“If the mood is buoyant, it just moves everything along with it. And if it is sombre, it pulls everything down,” he said. Around eight to nine works from Poddar’s collection were unsold. However, major ones by masters like Vasudeo Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Bhupen Khakhar and Ganesh Pyne were the highlights of the evening.


Bhupen Khakhar’s ‘Interior of a Temple’ sold for Rs 2.67 crore

In pure lot value terms as per estimates, a 100 per cent sale was achieved. “We are happy. I can’t say that we are over the moon, because it would have been nicer to get another Rs 10 crore. But we’ve achieved more than our low estimate despite certain lots not selling,” he said. Poddar, however, sees this as a blessing. “We still have those [unsold lots] to sell... One would’ve felt cheated if they had sold at the low estimates. We know what they are worth,” he said.

The works, that Poddar and his wife selected for the auction, all come from their early days as collectors. The Gaitonde (sold for Rs 11.43 crore) and Tyeb Mehta artworks (sold for Rs 10.23 crore) were acquired by Poddar in the 1980s. “We have lived with these works for 28-30 years. They were always up on the wall in the house,” Poddar said.