Indian art on global high

Works of Indian artists will be displayed at auction houses at Sotheby's and Christie's in New York, writes Ella Datta.

Maqbool Fida Husain's stallions will be stomping through the sale rooms of Sotheby's and Christie's when the auction houses conduct their spring sales at New York.

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Sotheby's has scheduled its auction of modern Indian paintings on March 29 while Christie's will hold its sale the day after. Both have six lots each of Husain paintings featuring horses. Christie's has one lot which belonged to the collection of filmmaker Roberto Rossellini.

After the benchmarks set at the autumn auctions at New York last year, auctions of modern and contemporary Indian art are redefining their identity.

In the forthcoming spring sales, Christie's has prepared a stand-alone catalogue of modern and contemporary Indian art for the first time. Sotheby's has brought its section on modern Indian paintings to the front of the catalogue.

Says Dr Hugo K Weihe, international specialist head, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, Christie's, "The interest in modern and contemporary Indian art is growing abroad. Collectors in Europe and the USA, who are not of Indian origin, are making enquiries and showing a positive response."

Husain dominates the auctions but Souza is a close second. Also at the auction are works by Tyeb Mehta, VS Gaitonde, SH Raza, Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee, Krishen Khanna and Jamini Roy.