KOLKATA:
Sotheby's sale of Modern and Contemporary
South Asian Art in New York on September 10, 2012 features high quality works from the 1950s to 1980s that are largely drawn from four private American collections.
These include the Abe and Jan Weisblat Collection, the most important collection of
Indian Art to appear at auction since the sale of the
Herwitz Collection in 2000. A strong selection of
paintings from the high period of Modernism in South Asia are included in this 95 lot sale that is estimated to fetch $3.1/4.5 million.
Spearheading the sale is an early work from Ram Kumar, Untitled (Benares), (estimated $150,000/200,000), a 1966 oil on canvas, from the Weisblat Collection. Kumar visited Benares for the first time with
MF Husain in the early 1960s in order to sketch on the spot and feel the city's depth and intensity.
Commenting on the sale, Priyanka Mathew, head of sale, Modern and Contemporary & South Asian Art at Sotheby's, commented: "We are extremely pleased to present our forthcoming Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale, which includes a number of works that are entirely fresh to the market such as the exceptional and important Weisblat Collection. Highlights of the sale include paintings by many of the leaders of Indian Modernism such as MF Husain, Ram Kumar and SH Raza."
