DAG Modern’s auction offers the most comprehensive collection of 20th century art. By S S Balan
Playing largely with blue, a kind of sienna and offset by white, artist K G Subramanyan’s rendition of lit lamps — one a covered glass lantern with a stand and an open one beside it with a fluted, tall glass filament — are a study in contrasts and perspectives. M F Husain’s paintings Blue Night and Black Moon that feature a lone, seated woman accompanied by a lamp, Badri Narayan’s work that has soft shadows and a monochromatic blue background....the play of light and shadow is expected to dominate the masters’ sale at the DAG Modern 20 th Century Indian Art auction today.
The humanoid figure, with an oval head, by Akbar Padamsee, inspired by French modernism, Pradosh Dasgupta’s sculpture titled Maternity, in which he used a square base and an oblong with an indentation and a small ovoid over it to depict a mother, will also be put for sale in the auction where connoisseurs have plenty to choose from.
“An early Parisian work by Amrita Sher-Gil, a portrait of an acquaintance by Rabindranath Tagore and a popular work on the cat with the lobster theme by Jamini Roy are the highlights of the auction,” says Kishore Singh, president, DAG Modern. “Nandalal Bose leads the indigenous, unique modernism flowered in Santiniketan by a set of drawings of postcards. Works by Krishen Khanna and Satish Gujral feature alongside the Sri lankan modernist George Keyt while J. P. Gangooly and K. laxma Goud represent the opposite ends of academic art and regional modernism with their works,” he adds.
Kishore says that there can’t be a trend in an art auction because auction houses are dependent on consignments from sellers. “Ours is the only auction with a no buyers’ premium, making it a rated and exciting selection for collectors of Indian art from around the world. We have curated the auction by categorsing the works in different genres — still-lives, landscapes, portraits, mythology, narratives and abstracts — and we have represented 70 lots with 66 artists, thereby offering parity to the masters of Indian modernism,” he adds. He believes that the art scenario has been on an upswing for the last few years, with an improved confidence and the market for the Modern remains robust.
India’s art market compared to the international is minuscule. He says: “It’s size at Rs 1,500 crore is less than 0.5 per cent of the international market. So it has huge opportunity and scope to grow. Fortunately, with Indian artists such as V S Gaitonde being shown at the Guggenheim, Nasreen Mohamedi at Met Breur and Bhupen Khakhar at Tate Modern, the visibility of Indian artists is increasing globally. We were represented at Shanghai Biennale by Rabin Mondal, which is an extraordinary achievement.”
The auction is the third one of the year for DAG Modern and the
second since its formal entry into the
auction space.