Raja Ravi Varma, also considered the founder of modern Indian art, excelled in two types of subjects – one was portraiture and another was mythological themes. While it is extremely rare to find his works doing the rounds at auction sales, it is, indeed, always a pleasure to find one at any of them. This is why the upcoming Sotheby’s sale of modern and contemporary South Asian Art in New York on March 14 will be an exciting playground for collectors and buyers to see who adds the prized trophy, ‘Damayanti’, oil on canvas, to their enviable collection. This circa 1890-1900 painting was sold for the first time in 1996 by Sotheby’s, and it is only after two decades that this work has come back to the market.
In this work, Damayanti, the protagonist and heroine in the Sanskrit epic, ‘Nala and Damayanti’, is pining for King Nala, whom she is in love with. She is waiting under moonlight, with her attendant Keshini who is fanning her. The entire composition – starting from the delicate handling of skin tones to adding textures to the jewellery and giving sari border a three-dimensional effect – has the insignia of Raja Ravi Varma’s style.
A reproduction of this work, along with few others that will go under the hammer in the upcoming auction, was brought to the city to give art connoisseurs a preview of these masterpieces. According to Yamini Mehta, international head of South Asian Art, the previews are aimed to tempt potential collectors to come to New York to see original works.
The previews have become important for us, points out, Anu Ghosh-Mazumdar, head of department, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, adding they have to tap the burgeoning collectors’ base here. “We started previewing in India around 2008 because we observed an interesting shift. Earlier, the biggest concentration of buyers comprised of NRIs from different countries, but then we saw that between 2005-07, 55 per cent of our buyers were from India. So, it has become extremely important for us to have previews here to show them what we have to offer. We can’t always expect them to refer to catalogues,” says Anu who has been with Sotheby’s for 13 years.
Yamini Mehtra
Out of 58 lots, reproductions of 16 works were brought to the city, and this also included some masterpieces from artists like F.N.Souza, S.H.Raza, Ganesh Pyne, Paramjit Singh, and K.H.Ara. Raza’s painting ‘Paysage’ (1983) highlights the transition period of the master modernist, whose later works centred around ‘bindu’, and this abstract composition of acrylic and pencil on canvas demonstrates his cherished memories of India, minus his favourite symbol.
Along with modern masters, works by luminaries of contemporary art like Bharti Kher, Shahzia Sikander and Avinash Chandra too are part of this auction. Dismissing the assumed notion that collectors and buyers show lean interest in contemporary art, Yamini says that “there is a huge interest from Indian collectors who are willing to spend on top quality works”. “And this is why”, she says, “we are confident that Bharti Kher’s ‘Starry Night after V.G’ will be able to pull buyers.”
This 2011 work draws inspiration from the famous painting, ‘The Starry Night(1889) by Dutch master Vincet van Gogh, in which Bharti has used reflective mirror surface and created clusters through her recurring motif, bindi, emulating the glowing constellation of stars in van Gogh’s work.
Elaborating on the growing collectors’ base in India, Yamini says that young and dynamic buyers, between the age group 30 to 50 have a wider international experience and this gives them the confidence to buy art. “When they see their international peers collecting and buying art, they find it aspirational and become serious about collecting art, and building their own collection,” she says.
“Previous generations didn’t do this much, so we see collector base increasing in India in the coming five to 10 years,” she adds.
