V S Gaitonde top draw at Sotheby's art auction in NYC

Works by unsung artists and Madhubani paintings are also on offer at the auction

Vasudeo S Gaitonde's Painting 4, oil on canvas from 1972, is the top draw at Sotheby's upcoming Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art auction in New York on March 21.

It is estimated between $1.5 m and $2 m (approx. Rs 11.4 crore – Rs 15.2 crore). It will not be a surprise if it is eventually sold for more because Gaitonde has been the biggest draw at auctions for more than a decade now; an Untitled oil by this late modernist holds the record of the most expensive Indian painting at Rs 39.98 crore.

The Sotheby's auction is part of the much-anticipated spring Asian Art Week in New York, traditionally held for about a fortnight annually in March, when top auction houses, museums and galleries in the Big Apple present the best of Asian art. The chief focus of the Asian Art Week remains China, given the prime position our neighbour enjoys in the global art market.

During the same period, Christie's would be hosting the other big auction of Indian art on March 23, featuring the Mahinder and Sharad Tak Collection of Indian Art. In this auction as well, it is a Gaitonde work at the top of the table, estimated between $2 m and $3 m (approx. Rs 15.2 crore – Rs 22.9 crore).

"Like most paintings by the artist, there is a Zen aesthetic that permeates the work (Painting 4)," said Meera Menezes, known for her seminal book on the reclusive artist, titled V. S. Gaitonde: Sonata of Solitude (2016).

She adds that from the late 1960s, Gaitonde's paintings were often executed in a subdued palette. The soft neutral tones continued to dominate Gaitonde's work in the 1970s, the period when this work was made.

Born in Nagpur in 1924 and trained at Sir J J School of Art, Bombay, Gaitonde was a close associate of the Progressive Artists' Group. He won the John D Rockefeller III fellowship in 1964 and shifted to New Delhi for good in the early 1970s, where he lived till his passing in 2001.

Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003), the Baroda artist whose work is increasingly attaining big-ticket prices at auctions, is one of the top-billed artists at the Sotheby's auction. Three of his works are on offer, of which a 1977 oil, Sheikh Shoe Mart, is the most expensive. It is estimated between $300,000 – $500,000 (approx Rs 2.2 crore – Rs 3.8 crore).

An artist to watch would be the sculptor Amar Nath Sehgal (1922-2007), who has not had his due at the auctions. In a rare offering, two of his modernist works are coming up for sale at Sotheby's; Nari, a 1986 bronze by Sehgal is estimated at $24,000 - $34,000 (approx. Rs 18.38 lakh – Rs 26.04 lakh).

While the regular auction favourites—M F Husain, F N Souza, Jamini Roy, Ram Kumar, Rameshwar Broota—are present with their seminal works; an interesting addition is the Madhubani artist Baua Devi (b 1940), two of whose works are on offer. Both—Untitled (Radha Krishna) and Sita Harana (Abduction of Sita)—are priced at $700 – $900 (approx Rs 53,000 – Rs 68,900).

This sale marks the return of folk art to the auction circuit after a long while, which should augur well for India's rich variety of folk and tribal art.

Besides Indian artists, works by six Pakistani artists are also part of the auction. These are the most well-known Pakistani masters M A R Chughtai (1897-1975), Anna Molka Ahmed (1917-1994), Zubeida Agha (1922-1997), Tassaduq Sohail (1930-2017), Mansur Aye (1941-2008), and Adeela Suleman (b. 1970).

(The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist, editor and arts consultant.)

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