Sotheby’s: Top draws by Husain, Raza go unsold

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A painting by Syed Haider Raza, who lived in France for a long time, was the bestseller at the sale of South Asian modern and contemporary art by Sotheby’s in London on Tuesday.
Rue des Fossés St Jaques, from Raza’s Paris period, was estimated to sell for £300,000-500,000 and sold for £337,250 with buyer’s premium. Raza painted the scene from a studio that he and his wife, the painter Janine Mongillat, rented at Rue des Fossés St Jaques. The painting of the view from the studio window is part of an important early phase in Raza’s career. In 1958, the painting was photographed with the artist by Henri Cartier Bresson.
However, Raza’s Bindu, which was expected to be the star of the 62-lot auction, was not sold. Painted in 1985, Bindu had been estimated to sell for £400,000-600,000 at the Sotheby’s auction. There was no confirmation by Sotheby’s why the painting was not auctioned.
Maqbool Fida Husain’s The Sixth Seal, estimated to sell for at £400,000-500,000, too did not make the final sale list. This painting was formerly in the collection of Chester and Davida Herwitz.
The auction, which was expected to fetch in excess of £2.8 million, however, made only £1.6 million in the auction, with many paintings withdrawn from the sale. The auction of South Asian contemporary art in Christie’s in June will provide a better assessment of the price trends of South Asian modern and contemporary art.
Manjit Bawa’s painting of a cow, estimated at £100,000-150,000, sold for £157,250. “Manjit’s subjects are often inspired by ancient iconography and myths but his primary concern was not with the narrative of the works but with their spatial and chromatic relationships. The artist’s use of colour was grounded in his formal training as a silk-screen printer and his study of Rajput and Pahari miniature paintings,” the auction house explained.
Two early oils by Francis Newton Souza sold for prices beyond the estimates — Untitled, estimated at 25,000-35,000, an oil on board dated 1954, sold for £111,650 and another Untitled, an oil on board, estimated at £35,000-45,000, sold for £121,250.