Science in art: Ardeshir Davierwalla’s sculpture ‘Galaxy’ sold at record price in auction

An artistic take on science is perhaps what can best describe late artist Ardeshir Davierwalla’s sculpture ‘Galaxy’. The 1966 metal art work, which was part of Christie’s South Asian Modern+Contemporary art auction in New York, sold for $1,87,500 — four times its low estimate price of $40,000: setting a record for the artist. The surprising high price it fetched is not the only interesting bit about this artwork.



The sculpture, which is made from scrap metal, has ‘BHABHA’ inscribed on its body, perhaps a homage to eminent nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha. Davierwalla, who was a trained chemist, was a close friend of the TIFR founding director and had been commissioned to do art work for the institute. says Nishad Avari, head of sales, Christie’s describes the sculpture as “a sort of Atlas like figure holding up two globes”, and that the piece could have been Davierwalla’s tribute to Bhabha and his contribution to science.