Bawa sets new price record at global online auction

NEW DELHI - Saffronart, the Mumbai-based online auction house for fine art and jewellery, set a global price record for Manjit Bawas untitled canvas at Rs. 1.7 crore against an estimated price of Rs.90 lakh at its online global winter sale, a statement issued by the online auction house said Monday.

The auction house sold 78 percent of the lots on display raking in Rs.20 crore (US $ 4.3 million).

The top five lots sold in the auction were Manjit Bawas untitled work at Rs.1.7 crore, M.F. Husains untitled canvas at Rs.1.4 crore and Subodh Guptas untitled work at Rs.1.2 crore against an upper estimate of Rs.90 lakh. F.N. Souzas “Profile of a Woman” sold at Rs.99.2 lakh and S.H. Razas “Temple” at Rs.83.3 lakh.

Works by Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta and Jagdish Swaminathan also attracted healthy bidding, the release said.

Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder of Saffronart said: With a total sale of Rs.20 crore, it was one of the most successful sales of 2009 and continues the upward trajectory of the Indian art market.

With an average realized lot price of over Rs.25 lakh, compared to Rs.10.5 lakh in March 2009, these results demonstrate that the market sentiment has improved significantly in the last few months. Since March 2009, Saffronart auctions have shown a trend of robust growth in sales, indicating that the market is on a steady recovery path, Vazirani said.

This auction also marks a surge of confidence among collectors across the globe who are seeking out exceptional and rare works with impeccable provenance to add to their collections, he added.

This auction marked the debut of Saffronarts auction application on the iPhone, Vazirani said.

Saffronart is the only fine-art auction house globally to offer a mobile bidding application for devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Nokia phones.

Saffronart introduced bidding on mobile phones this year. The auction house said bids totaling Rs.4.8 crore were registered at the auction on mobile phones from across the world.

A large number of customers used the application to track the auction while on the move, Vazirani said.

The auction re-emphasized Saffronarts technological leadership in making auctions accessible to collectors around the world. The enthusiastic response to our mobile application demonstrates that our customers trust our technology platform and value the rich visual experience, convenience and secure access offered via this innovative application, Vazirani said.

The auctioneers said the total sale crossed the million dollar mark, and within a few hours of opening several lots had exceeded their pre-sale estimates.

The online auction featured 100 works by 51 modern and contemporary Indian artists with collectors across the world participating.