Contemporary Indian artworks see record sales in January

New Delhi [India], Feb 11 (ANI): The Indian auction market welcomed 2019 with five ‘White Glove’ sales - where all consigned works found buyers.
One of the artwork was auctioned by Saffronart and the four others by Story LTD.
The 182 works sold in the month of January resulted in a total turnover of Rs 5.75 crores, with Pre-modern, Modern, and Contemporary art accounting for Rs 49.8 lakhs, 1.74 crores, and 3.34 crores respectively, reported Artery India, an art market intelligence and portfolio advisory firm.
Held on January 18, in collaboration with the Kochi-Biennale Foundation (KBF), Art Rises for Kerala by Saffronart raised Rs 3.7 crores towards the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund, in addition to Rs 36 lakhs previously generated from the 24 hour Story Ltd. auction held in August 2018.
The single auction accounted for 64 per cent of the total turnover for January. Over the month, F.N. Souza appeared with the highest number of lots, his 7 paintings amounting to Rupees 11.4 lakhs, followed by Lalu Prasad Shaw, with 6 paintings amounting to Rupees 13.3 lakhs.
Owed to the revived interest in Indian Contemporary art, new records were established for five artists within this category during the Saffronart sale.
All time high prices were achieved for contemporary artists, Aji VN, Manish Nai, C Bhagyanath, DayanitaSingh, and, Sujith SN.
Dayanita Singh’s photographs, which sold for Rupees 22 lakhs, acquired her third position amongst the top 3 artists with the highest turnover.
From the same auction, Anish Kapoor’s Untitled was the most expensive work sold, achieving a price of Rupees 1.3 crores.

The artist with the highest turnover in the month of January fashioned the 20-inch sculpture out of canvas, resin, and pigment, and rendered it in a striking blue. Out of the 42 lots offered for sale, 32 were from the Contemporary section, and accounted for 74 per cent of the total auction turnover.
The Pre-Modernist Amrita Sher-Gil contributed Rupees 49 lakhs with the sale of two small sized works on paper, which also constitute the second and third most expensive works sold at the Art Rises for Kerala auction.


According to Artery India, Amrita Sher-Gil is the artist with the second highest turnover, in the month of January. (ANI)