Modern Indian art back at Christie's Hong Kong after 15 years


Modern Indian art back at Christie's Hong Kong after 15 years

November 14, 2018: Modern Indian Art will be part of the Christie’s Hong Kong autumn sale season for the first time in 15 years this November. The leading Indian modernists showcased in the auction are S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza and Ram Kumar alongside Akbar Padamsee and Jagdish Swaminathan, among others. 

SH Raza Gestation for auction at Christie's Hong Kong

The sale is led by Syed Haider Raza's Gestation painted in 1989, following Mr. Raza's return to India after he had travelled the world and lived in France for more than 50 years. This painting is an iconic signature piece from the height of the artist's career when he began to use the elemental form of the bindu, framing it into complex arrangements of geometrical shapes and primary colours (estimate: HK$10,000,000-15,000,000 /$1,250,000-1,900,000).

Another highlight of the sale is F.N. Souza’s Untitled (Landscape), painted in 1962 during a period of intense experimentation while Mr. Souza was living in North London. This dynamic and vibrant composition captures the tension and exaltation the artist was experiencing at that time, a watershed moment in Mr. Souza’s life and artistic path (estimate: HK$2,400,000-4,000,000 / $310,000-510,000). 

FN Souza Landscape for auction at Christie's Hong Kong

Sonal Singh, Senior Specialist and Christie's Head of India, commented, "Over the past years, we have seen continuously growing interest from Asian collectors in this [Indian Modern art] category. Traditionally, Hong Kong was a venue for our sales and given the consistent results and growing demand for South Asian Modern Masters, we are very excited to add another sale venue to our annual auction calendar by bringing exceptional pieces to the collectors of this region".

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