Indira Gandhi's rare portrait to go under hammer

Works of leading artists like Tyeb Mehta, F N Souza, S H Raza and Shobha Broota, including a rare portrait of Indira Gandhi, will be among 50 lots to go under the hammer at an auction in New Delhi that is estimated at Rs 8.5-10.5 crore.

Works of leading artists like Tyeb Mehta, F N Souza, S H Raza and Shobha Broota, including a rare portrait of Indira Gandhi, will be among 50 lots to go under the hammer at an auction here on Saturday that is estimated at Rs 8.5-10.5 crore.

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A highlight of Osian's auction of 'Indian Modern and Contemporary Art' is an 'Untitled' oil on canvas early work of Mehta estimated at Rs 16,000,000-20,000,000, K K Hebbar's portrait of Gandhi and Jamini Roy's 'Self Portrait', both estimated at Rs 1,600,000-2,000,000.

D P Roy Chowdhury's bronze 'Winter' (Rs 3,200,000-4,000,000) and Meera Mukherjee's brass 'Figure' (Rs 2,800,000-3,600,000) are significant sculptures that will be auctioned.

The auction's repertoire includes iconic works by modern masters Mehta, Souza, Raza, V S Gaitonde, Ramkumar, Jamini Roy, Bikash Bhattacharjee, K H Ara and Ganesh Pyne and some exceptional works by contemporary young artists such as Broota, Amitava Das, Riyas Komu, Gogi Saroj Pal, Anju Dodiy and Atul Dodiya, among others, the organisers said.

A special focus will be on the woodcuts of Qamrool Hassan and works of Sajal Roy and Nikhil Biswas.

Commenting on the works, Osian's founder-chairman Neville Tuli said: "The auction is a small select focus on Indian modern masters and high quality paintings and sculpture.

The top end of the Indian modern and contemporary art market was the last to feel the meltdown and will be the first to experience the revival.

However, most important is the recognition that art of the highest historical significance holds its value far better than most other financial assets. As always it is during the time of crisis which makes the public respect the art object as a stable vehicle for holding of value."