The Indian Section of the Christies Dubai Sale

Several people have been asked me to specifically comment on the Indian section of the Dubai sale. I must say that I was reluctant to oblige at first but the thought of putting forth a point of view that is undoubtedly subjective yet without bias seemed to be the need of the hour in this overheated art market so there is the way I see it.

There are a total of 60 works from India with an overall high estimate of $4,514,000 or just over $75,000 per lot on average. This time Christies is betting heavy on abstraction with nearly a third of the lots and half of the estimate accounted for by Ram Kumar and Raza. FN Souza is only partially represented with 3 landscapes and one still life but that is more because his erotically charged nudes are out of bounds for sale in Dubai and certainly not because he has gone out of fashion

Ruins (lot 123) by Ram Kumar makes a reappearance with a low estimate of $100,000. This work went unsold at the Christies September 2006 sale in NY where it was estimated at $150,000~$200,000 and chances are that this work of above average quality will not be overlooked in Dubai.

This sale also features a Justin Ponmay that was originally bought at the Saffronart auction in Dec 2005 for just over $12,000 and has come up on resale with an estimate of $8,000~$10,000. It is one of the few contemporary works in this sale and considering Justin’s growing presence at international fairs this bet should pay off for the consignors




SH Raza (lot 339)
Rajput House is a classic example of why Raza is considered a master colorist. This work from the 60’s with a high estimate of $180,000 should easily touch $350,000. I also like Lumiere D'ete (lot 319) but works like this one have been seen too often at the auctions so does not get the top vote





MF Husain (lot 341)
An undeserving work to adorn the catalogue back cover. It’s a flashy painting with an all too familiar subject in an auction friendly color that is certain to sell well but fails to impress. The one thing in favor is that it is instantly recognizable even at 20 yards and should please those in the hunt for signature trophies.

Other duds include th untitled alpine landscape (lot 372) by Souza and B Prabha's Fishergirl (lot 362)