As Sotheby’s gets ready for its upcoming New York sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Yamini Mehta, International Head, Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Sotheby’s draws attention to an untitled masterpiece by V.S.Gaitonde and other stellar works by Jehangir Sabavala, Jagdish Swaminathan, and Sayed Haider Raza that feature in the sale. Edited excerpts from the interview.
What makes this untitled work by V.S.Gaitonde coming up for auction so special?
The sublime 1960 work by V.S.Gaitonde that Sotheby's is offering is the largest work on canvas that he had done. It is roughly 5 feet by 9 feet and was commissioned for Air India. The work is a departure and a turning point in Gaitonde's stylistic evolution. It follows from a visit to Japan where the artist became deeply influenced by Zen philosophy and adopted a minimalistic aesthetic to his work. This painting is very ethereal with its clouded background and foreground with varying hues of blue creating an effect of movement, birds in flight, during the rocket age. It is of course an abstract painting that we can view and make new discoveries with Gaitonde's play on light and texture.
Air India may have commissioned the work but Gaitonde's fellow artist and patron, Bal Chhabda, ended up owning this monumental work. Chhabda's place in Indian art history can’t be understated as he was a huge financial backer sustaining his fellow artists. He showed their works at his own Gallery 59 and collected many of their finest examples. One can say that he was probably one of the most celebrated artist-dealer-collectors of the 20th century in India.
This was one of the paintings that he cherished all his life and was one of the works he was last photographed with shortly before his death. At an estimate of $2,500,000/3,500,000, it is a work that would equally fit well into a private collection where it took pride of place or a museum because of its premier place in Gaitonde's overall body of work.
What are the other highlights of the auction?
There are one of the most important landscapes by Amrita Sher Gil, titled ‘In the Garden, that is in the West’. It was originally in the collection of Amrita's sister-in-law, Viola Egan. It depicts the family's summer home in Zebegenyi. In 1938, Sher Gil married her first cousin, Victor Egan and they spent an idyllic time at their childhood retreat. It was during this period of solitude that Amrita developed her new mature style of painting, which also employed abstract and modernist techniques (well before the Progressive Art Movement). This is one of a handful of paintings by her that is in international hands.
With the art world focussed on Bhupen Khakar's retrospective at the Tate Modern this summer, we are very excited to feature a wonderful 1972 work by Bhupen Khakar called ‘Church and Gardner’ painted in his more restrained early style and suggestive of a lush and fertile landscape. We also have 4 watercolours painted with a freer hand.
Another wonderful highlight is a beautiful portrait of a lady in a russet sari by Raja Ravi Varma. Also one of few works by the artist available internationally. This work was originally owned by Raja Ravi Varma's German printer, Fritz Schleicher who bought the work in 1903. The artist's mastery of colour, drapery and detail exemplifies why he was a pioneer of his time.
We are also featuring early works by Sayed Haider Raza. One even coming from the personal collection of Lara Vincy, Raza's Parisian galleries who handled and promoted his works until 1970. The paper work, Cagnes-sur-Mer from 1952 is a rare example of Raza's Siennese phase of painting. Works by Tyeb Mehta, Francis Newton Souza, Manjit Bawa, Biren De, Nalini Malani, Sudhir Patwardhan, and Nasreen Mohamedi also are focal points of the sale.
How do you see this sustained interest in moderns?
The artists of the Indian modernist era are essentially the great masters and there will always be a sustained interest in their works because they have been tested by time. They are also considered good value as well. We have seen $100 million prices for Picassos that make our masterpieces bargains in comparison.
One of the most exciting things happening now is that the canon for Modernist masters is growing with artists like Benode Behari Mukherjee or Krishna Reddy or Mohan Samant getting a new look at their works.
Of particular interest has been Gaitonde, whose works have not just been doing extremely well at auctions but also garnering interest from museums. Guggenheim held a retrospective of the artist followed by the book “Painting As Process, Painting As Life”. At Dhaka Art Summit too, a book is being released on the artist.
Gaitonde's works have a universal appeal because their subject matter does not tie the work to a particular place and time. In fact, I would say his works are timeless. They are also relatively scarce. In some years he may have painted as many as 6 works and in others none. Museum shows bring renewed interest to an artist's body of work, which in turn helps his or her market and creates further demand and attention. The rising prices then bring more projects to the forefront whether it is a monograph or another exhibition.
Do you think painting is making a comeback? Did you think India Art Fair had more paintings than earlier?
It is hard to say that painting has made a comeback, it has never gone away. It is always the most popular medium. It is why in terms of auction records painting still surpasses any other medium. Painting serves as a window into the artist's mind. Works that are two-dimensional and can be hung also may not require as much space or equipment as a sculpture, installation or new media piece.
However, I think the revelatory works for me at the India Art Fair this year were the sculptures by Krishna Reddy and Nagji Patel. It complemented the wonderful show that the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art produced on Himmat Shah. I personally feel that there are a lot of discoveries to be made to introduce and re-introduce these senior artists to a new audience.
