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New York, May 16 (IANS) Works by
Indian artists Subodh Gupta, Anish Kapoor, T.V. Santosh, Chintan
Upadhyay, Riyas Komu, Raqib Shaw and Bose Krishnamachari attracted high
prices at Sotheby's spring series of contemporary art auctions here,
exceeding expectations with the total sale amounting to $1,748,500.
The highlight of the May 14-15 auctions was a work by Gupta, one of the
most important contemporary artists to emerge from India in a
generation. His "Saat Samunder Paar VII" fetched $825,000, a record for
the artist at auction.
This work came from a series the artist completed in 2003 entitled "Saat
Samundar Paar" (Across the Seven Seas). In these works, he has depicted
scenes from bustling airports, thereby tapping into a theme central to
his entire oeuvre: man's experience in contemporary society. An untitled
2006 sculpture by Gupta also fetched $193,000 at the sale as against an
estimate of $80,000-$120,000.
Scott Nussbaum, specialist in Sotheby's Contemporary Art department,
said: "Zara Porter Hill, Sotheby's head of Indian and Southeast Asian
art, and I are thrilled at the strong prices achieved across the board
for works by Indian artists in our series of sales, which was an
outstanding team effort.
"Interest was global for these works, demonstrated by the record prices
achieved for works by Subodh Gupta and Pakistani artist Rashid Rana."
Highlighting the offering of other works by contemporary Indian artists
was Kapoor's lacquered bronze sculpture "Blood Solid", 2001, which sold
for $301,000. Sotheby's set the record for a work by Kapoor at auction
in its November 2007 evening sale of contemporary art when it sold an
untitled work for $2.8 million.
High prices were also obtained by Santosh's "Test II", 2005, which was
estimated at $60,000-$80,000 but fetched $157,000 and Shaw's untitled
2004 work that sold for $91,000 against an estimate of $40,000-$60,000.
Komu's "Systematic Citizen XIV", 2006, went for $79,000, Upadhyay's 2007
work "Smart Alec" brought $73,000 and Krishnamachari's "Untitled
(Stretched Bodies)", 2006, brought $39,400.
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