Works by 41 leading Indian contemporary artists went under the hammer to generate Rs 3.3 crore (Rs 33 million) total sales in the first 24-hour online auction by Saffronart, marking a new format for purchase and sale of Indian art.The sale offered art collectors and dealers access to a range of contemporary paintings, sculptures and photographs, and was accompanied by online and mobile catalogues according to information released by the auction house on Tuesday.
New and seasoned collectors snapped up 82 per cent of the total 60 lots featured in the auction in competitive bidding that saw 55 per cent of the lots exceeding their upper estimates.
The 60 lots included works by Subodh Gupta, Jyothi Basu, Mithu Sen, Bari Kumar, Anju Dodiya, G Ravinder Reddy and Praneet Soi amongst others. Works by N S Harsha, Bari Kumar and Dhananjay Singh witnessed great interest from bidders, exceeding their higher estimates in the first few hours of the auction.
These included Singhs untitled watercolour which sold for Rs 108,000, more than three times its high estimate and Harshas untitled work on paper, which crossed its upper estimate by more than four times to sell at Rs 259,000.
Anita Dubes photographic work 'Remembering Ekalavya', which sold for Rs 530,000,
which was double its estimated sale price.
The condensed and thematic adaptations of Saffronarts more comprehensive annual seasonal auctions offer aimed at offering art collectors and the art trade more frequent avenues to access and sell art, did not have a print catalogue or preview events and was preceded by a short burst of online-only marketing.
The success of the auction strengthens our core belief that the accessibility and convenience of the Internet makes it an ideal medium for collectors of art," said Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder and chief executive officer, Saffronart.
"The auction house plans to add several more to the Indian art auction calendar, providing collectors more frequent avenues for accessing and selling quality Indian art, he said.
