Amrita Sher-Gil painting sold for Rs 37.8 cr; second costliest after VS Gaitonde's in India
The Indo-Hungarian artist who died in 1941 at the age of 28 was titled 'National Treasure' by the Indian government and is India's most famous woman artist.
- Jul 14, 2021,
- Updated Jul 14, 2021 11:40 AM IST
A painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, 'In the Ladies' Enclosure' (1938), was sold for Rs 37.8 crore (USD 5.14 million) at the Saffronart auction house sale in Mumbai on Tuesday. This is the second most expensive artwork by an Indian. According to art market intelligence firm Artery India, prior to this Sher-Gil's The Little Girl in Blue (1934) was auctioned for Rs 18.7 crore at Sotheby's auction in Mumbai in 2018.
Untitled (1961) by VS Gaitonde maintains its position as the most expensive art by an Indian artist after it was sold for Rs 39.98 crore in March this year at Saffronart.
The Indo-Hungarian artist who died in 1941 at the age of 28 was titled 'National Treasure' by the Indian government and is India's most famous woman artist. It is illegal to take her art out of the country.
Saffronart CEO and co-founder Dinesh Vazirani said Tuesday's record-breakig sale was "a clear indication of Sher-Gil's artistic merit".
"It is a rare work of the artist from that particular period to emerge in the art market… Sher-Gil painted this work [In the Ladies' Enclosure] in the final years of her brief but exceptional life," he said, as mentioned in a report in The Indian Express.
In the Ladies' Enclosure Oil painting measuring 21.5 x 31.5 inches, one can see a group of women and a dog mustered near a Hibiscus flower plant. There is a bride at the centre in a crimson coloured salwar kameez getting her hair done by another woman. A small girl is looking keenly at the flowers nearby. Sher-Gil is known for her women-centric paintings.
Arvind Vijaymohan, CEO of Artery India said that the painting is among the artist's most dense compositions. "Given its rarity and importance, it should have achieved a higher price, and will serve its collector richly as a capital asset, in addition to its unparalleled historicity and cultural bearings," he added.
Sher-Gil was fascinated with art since childhood and went to Paris to study the academic style of painting. Upon returning to India in 1934, she marked the beginning of an evolution in her style. She travelled across the country understanding its colours, sound and people. She had drawn inspiration from the cave paintings of Ajanta and Ellora and Rajput and Pahari miniature paintings.
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A painting by Amrita Sher-Gil, 'In the Ladies' Enclosure' (1938), was sold for Rs 37.8 crore (USD 5.14 million) at the Saffronart auction house sale in Mumbai on Tuesday. This is the second most expensive artwork by an Indian. According to art market intelligence firm Artery India, prior to this Sher-Gil's The Little Girl in Blue (1934) was auctioned for Rs 18.7 crore at Sotheby's auction in Mumbai in 2018.
Untitled (1961) by VS Gaitonde maintains its position as the most expensive art by an Indian artist after it was sold for Rs 39.98 crore in March this year at Saffronart.
The Indo-Hungarian artist who died in 1941 at the age of 28 was titled 'National Treasure' by the Indian government and is India's most famous woman artist. It is illegal to take her art out of the country.
Saffronart CEO and co-founder Dinesh Vazirani said Tuesday's record-breakig sale was "a clear indication of Sher-Gil's artistic merit".
"It is a rare work of the artist from that particular period to emerge in the art market… Sher-Gil painted this work [In the Ladies' Enclosure] in the final years of her brief but exceptional life," he said, as mentioned in a report in The Indian Express.
In the Ladies' Enclosure Oil painting measuring 21.5 x 31.5 inches, one can see a group of women and a dog mustered near a Hibiscus flower plant. There is a bride at the centre in a crimson coloured salwar kameez getting her hair done by another woman. A small girl is looking keenly at the flowers nearby. Sher-Gil is known for her women-centric paintings.
Arvind Vijaymohan, CEO of Artery India said that the painting is among the artist's most dense compositions. "Given its rarity and importance, it should have achieved a higher price, and will serve its collector richly as a capital asset, in addition to its unparalleled historicity and cultural bearings," he added.
Sher-Gil was fascinated with art since childhood and went to Paris to study the academic style of painting. Upon returning to India in 1934, she marked the beginning of an evolution in her style. She travelled across the country understanding its colours, sound and people. She had drawn inspiration from the cave paintings of Ajanta and Ellora and Rajput and Pahari miniature paintings.
Also Read: You can own World Wide Web's source code! Berners-Lee to put it up for auction as NFT
Also Read: 17th century copy of Mona Lisa sells for $3.4 mn in auction