LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.
In view of this occasion, Maher Dadha, chairman and managing director of Bid & Hammer Auction House said, “After the fantastic response to our previous two auctions held in March and August 2010 in Bangalore, I am delighted to present Bid & Hammer’s Sale 0007, pertinently titled ‘Significant Indian Paintings,’ as it reflects our ongoing endeavor to bring forth works of the unsung heroes of modern Indian art during its germination period.
“As a full-fledged auction house that looks at art beyond the realm of just Indian contemporary paintings and drawings, we are conducting an auction of paintings after a deliberately prolonged lull and this, because in our opinion the market for Indian paintings is just about coming to terms with the burst in the pricing bubble that has engulfed it for a while now,” said Dadha. “On a more positive and also realistic note, challenges such as these are the ones that excite us and motivate us as we continue to strive and offer significant and quality works at the most competitive estimates.”
Apart from the signature style works by eminent artists like Raja Ravi Varma, F.N. Souza and Jamini Roy, this auction brings forth some unusual works of lesser-known phases by these artists. These are the Tanjore-style portraiture of Maharaja Serfoji II embellished with gomedhaks by Raja Ravi Varma; F.N. Souza’s graphic tribute to Rabindranath and Jamini Roy’s female nude on canvas from his early explorations with Post-Impressionist mannerisms. Of the signature-style renditions special mention is deserved for Ravi Varma’s Ravana abducting Sita– a study for the final work and Souza’s Crucifixion depicting Mary Magdelene alongside the slain Christ.
Among the other noteworthy artists being featured are philosopher and indologist Nicholas Roerich, Noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Bengal School pioneers Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose, among others, A.R.Chughtai, Hemendranath Mazumdar, B.C. Law, Allah Bux, A.H. Muller, K.K. Hebbar, Shivax Chavda, S.H. Raza, K.S. Kulkarni and Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, to name a few. For the first time in India, artist Pranay Ranjan Roy’s work is being showcased after a successful representation in international auctions.
Dadha said that Bid & Hammer looks at art beyond the realm of Indian contemporary art. This explains their resurgence after a deliberately prolonged lull that observed the market for Indian paintings coming to terms with the burst of the pricing bubble that had engulfed it for a while.
Taking it up as a challenging motivation, the auction house offers significant works at the most competitive estimates. Realizing the fact that the artists and their works deserve higher estimates, the auctioneers hope for the bidders to have the final say, as they believe it to be the very purpose of an open market auction mechanism.
Out of a total lot size of 84 works there are 69 paintings, which in turn comprise of three works by Raja Ravi Varma, two by Nicholas Roerich and eight works by Souza among others. In association with American Express Banking Corp. and further enabled by online bidding through the interface of Liveauctioneers.com, Bid & Hammer, hopes to make this auction an event of historical enormity and grand success, said Dadha.
Aficionados and patrons based in Bangalore can preview the items by appointment on Nov. 15 and can participate in the auction either through absentee, telephone or live online bidding if they are unable to travel to Delhi.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
