Mahadev Visvanath Dhurandhar's lost art works auctioned for a whopping 87,500 pounds

More often than not, South Asian art auctions are skewed towards a few artists who command the marquee price, but sometimes, they throw up surprises. Like at the Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art auction held in London last week, a set of 20 watercolours by Mahadev Visvanath Dhurandhar, depicting everyday scenes of Mumbai at the start of the 20th century, fetched 87,500 pounds.

It was three times the highest estimate, a new record price for the artist. The works were recently discovered sitting in a drawer in rural England, where they lay forgotten for 50 years. The paintings belonged to one Albert Mathews, a senior export manager posted to India by Biddle Sawyer & Co. between 1923 and 1969.

Meanwhile, Bhupen Khakhar’s two works together raked in 1.4 million pounds. Interest in the artist was fuelled by the fact that his work was sold for 1,112,750 pounds in a separate auction just a day prior.