Works by F.N. Souza saw great interest, with four of his paintings making it to the top 10 lots sold in the auction. These included ‘Disintegrated Head’ which sold for $333,500, ‘Emperor’ which sold for $230,000 and two Untitled works selling for $218,500 and $201,250 respectively.

Another landmark at the auction was K.G. Subramanyan’s ‘Inayat Khan Looking at Oxford – 3’ from 1987. Several bidders drove the price to a remarkable $46,635 – four times higher than its upper estimate of $11,630 – demonstrating the traction that has returned to the Indian art market. Another significant work by the artist titled ‘Inayat Khan Looking at Pastoral Landscape’ from the same year also crossed its upper estimate by 335% to sell at $50,547. Several other lots also saw great interest and bidding from buyers in India and across the globe, and during the first day of the two-day auction itself, several lots exceeded their high estimates.

“Our Winter Online Auction saw several new collectors participate for the first time, a significant number of whom were bidding at high levels on some of the top lots of the sale, and there was particular excitement for works by the modernists. With 58% of the lots on offer selling above their high estimates, and a total of 5 lots selling for over a crore, this sale points out the appreciation for modern masterworks as well as an invigorated demand for quality contemporary lots,” Dinesh Vazirani added.

Coinciding with Saffronart’s 10 year anniversary, this milestone auction reinforces Saffronart’s position as the definitive source for modern and contemporary Indian art today. Over the last ten years, Saffronart has attracted a growing number of collectors across the world. With online auctions, fixed price sales, exhibition programs, and technology-enabled services for clients, all connected through an unparalleled online presence, Saffronart has grown to become the world’s largest online fine-art auction house.