Winning Bid

Manish Pushkale,
Artist,winner of Raza Foundation Award,2003.
I had a word with Raza and he was happy,though he said that the auction price was not as significant as the continuation of work. The artwork,Saurashtra,is also important because it belongs to the period of 1970s and 1980s when Raza was representing Indian elements in his art. The record will help get Indian art wider attention from across the globe. It is the masters who are leading even at the time of recession – the works of artists like MF Husain,VS Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta have done well and they deserve it. Raza is preparing to shift base to India again. He’ll move from Paris to Delhi permanently in December.

Parul Vadehra,
Director of Vadehra Art Gallery
The record signifies a further strengthening of the art market in India. The gap between the prices of Western and Indian art is too wide and has to be filled in. A new record,of course,generates a buzz around the particular artist. However,it is important to note that this is a market of specifics — in the sense that the price is about a particular painting that is appealing to an audience—- and another work from the same period may not be as popular. One cannot say that because of a particular sale,prices of all works of the artist will go up. I did not speak to Raza but my father-in-law Arun Vadehra did. Raza is very happy,not only for himself but for Indian art as a whole.

Minal Vazirani,
Saffronart Auction House
Saurashtra is a very good work from an important period and reflects the crux of Raza’s interests in that period when he was making the transition to pure abstraction. The work reached Rs 16 crore because there was competitive bidding for it in the room and on the phone. This shows a strong and growing interest in Indian art. The focus is back on the modernists,even the FN Souza did well and the prices underscore a growing interest from a collector-driven market.