Sotheby’s to explore ‘important’ Pune market

While the first exhibition held by Sotheby’s in India was way back in 1992, opening up a branch promises a regular calendar of events including charity sales, lectures and so on, said Priyanka Mathew, regional director, Sotheby’s (India) Woodhead said the reason for shifting focus on India lies in the numbers. “In the last five years, India has given us business of $600 million and there has been an annual increase of 40 per cent in clients. The statistics speak for themselves,” added Woodhead.

However, this isn’t going to be a one-way street as they are also scouting for Indian talent, said Philip Hook, senior director, Impressionist and Modern Art Department, Sotheby’s.

“We first aim to introduce Indian clients to great Western artworks and bring to them top-end of the market, with great names like Picasso, Monet and so on. We are also looking at Indian art and getting it collected by major international collectors. The last one week we have spent here has been an absolute revelation in terms of modern Indian art that exists here. It is not very well known internationally but we have some good Indian painters, great pieces of artworks with fantastic stories that we would like to showcase internationally. For instance, some rare pieces of painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, whom we also know as India’s Frida Kahlo,” he said.

Incidentally, a rare painting by Sher-Gil is one of the selling points of the second edition of India Art Week to take place next month. “She made it for her lover in the 30’s when he was leaving for a war. It has so much romantic baggage and passion attached. We are hoping it will cross the record it set for the last Sher-Gil auction which fetched us $2.9 million, a record price for a female Indian painter.

Besides, we have iconic pieces by Jehnagir Sabvala which were earlier owned by Vijaylakshmi Pandit, the Sixth Seal by M F Hussain and a major cubist painting by Gaganendranath Tagore titled Bed of Arrows inspired by Bhishma from Mahabharata,” said Yamini Mehta, senior director, International Department, and head, Indian and Southeast Asian Art. Mathew ruled out a Sotheby’s auction in India presently.