Souza, Mehta top Christie's Indian modern art sale
London, June 12 (IANS)

Works of Francis Newton Souza and Tyeb Mehta were the highlights of the Christie's sale of contemporary Indian art here, which also included works from Tina Ambani's Mumbai-based Harmony Art Foundation. Souza's 1955 work "Birth" sold for £1,273,250 ($2.5 million) as against an estimate of £600,000-800,000 while Mehta's 1984 untitled (Figure on Rickshaw) went for £982,050 as against an estimate of £300,000-500,000 pounds.

Five of Subodh Gupta's works were sold at Wednesday's sale. His 2007 untitled work went for £601,250. His "Bucket" was sold for £121,250, "Magic Wands" for £169,250 and "Cotton Wicks for £15,000.

T.V. Santosh's two works were also interestingly rated. While an untitled went for £145,250 pounds, his "Peace Protest" went for an appreciable £20,000. A further key work was Rameshwar Broota's 1980 "Havaldar-III", which sold for £337,250.

Other strong modern works at the sale included Maqbool Fida Husain's 1970 untitled work and 1969 "Gandhi - Man of Peace". However, five out of the nine Husains went unsold or were withdrawn. Addressing another aspect of contemporary society, Ravinder Reddy's sculpture "Head" also did not find a buyer. Syed Haider Raza's 1965-1966 "Rajput House" sold for £97,250. Riyas Komu's "Dog in the Bush" went for £22,500.

The sale of 112 lots, of which a few were withdrawn or left unsold, was expected to realise in the excess of £3.7 million but garnered £5.4 million, including the buyer's premium.