Tyeb Mehta painting makes record as second most expensive work of modern or contemporary art

All eyes were set on a Raja Ravi Varma painting at Saffronart’s spring live auction on Wednesday evening, yet some others emerged as winners and personal bests. A Tyeb Mehta sold for $5,596,000 (Rs 41.97 cr), inclusive of buyer’s premium (hammer price $4,750,000). This is the highest selling work for the artist globally in an auction. Now, it’s the second most expensive work of modern or contemporary Indian art.

Mehta’s Untitled (Bull on Rickshaw) (1999) is a meeting of some of his key motifs and themes—the falling figure, the trussed bull and the rickshaw. The bull writhes on the rickshaw, conveying a picture of vulnerability, suffering and bondage. Both human and animal are yoked to their respective places in life. As Amrita Jhaveri noted in A Guide to 101 Modern and Contemporary Indian Artists (2005), .”..the bull, with its fiery energy is inescapably doomed to man’s violence. Mehta’s experience at an abattoir in Bombay marked him indelibly; in his art, it achieves metaphoric significance — an animal in the throes of death becomes a symbol for the conflicts of modern life.”

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MV Dhurandhar’s Untitled (Draupadi Vastraharan) (1934) was the other work that performed well at the auction, sold at Rs8.04 cr. Born in Kolhapur, Dhurandhar is often thought of as the second most popular Indian artist, after Ravi Varma. The painting revisits an important scene from the Mahabharata, where Dushasana attempts to disrobe Draupadi, only to be stopped by divine intervention. In the painting, the assault on Draupadi has just begun, as she pleadingly looks to the heavens for help. Krishna—who will turn her sari into an endless piece of cloth till Dushasana tires himself— appears behind Draupadi like a benevolent, blue vision.

Untitled (Draupadi Vastraharan) (1934) by MV Dhurandhar. (Courtesy: SaffronArt)

The painting is perhaps a homage to Ravi Varma, whose rendition of the same scene from the Mahabharata was one of the highlights of this auction. Ravi Varma’s Draupadi Vastraharan (circa 1888-90), estimated between Rs 15 cr to Rs 20 cr, sold for Rs 21.6 cr. This is the second highest selling work for the artist. An oleograph of the same scene printed at the Ravi Varma Press in Malavali sold for Rs 4.2 lakh.