The Sotheby's London Sale of Contemporary Art on Tuesday, which raked in a phenomenal £94,701,550, making it the most successful summer sale of contemporary art works ever held in Europe, also brought more laurels and money for Indian artists.
In a hall filled to capacity, prices of many of the works, including those of Indians like Anish Kapoor, soared beyond expectations, with more than two-thirds of the works fetching prices much above the already high estimates.
An untitled sculpture from 2003 by Kapoor sold for £1,945,250. This price represents a new auction record for the Mumbai-born artist.
The stunning piece, which soared above its pre-sale estimate of £1-1.5 million, embodied the pioneering manipulation of space and material that characterises the best creation of this world-renowned sculptor, said reviewers.
The untitled work is one of the largest of Kapoor's alabaster works and the first double-concave piece to be auctioned.
Subodh Gupta’s untitled canvas from 2005 sold for £601,250, much above its pre-sale estimate of £200,000-300,000. The canvas, depicting a vessel stall glistening in a pink dawn, is one of Gupta's most important and powerful photo-realist paintings to ever come to the market.