About This Auction

This Modern & Contemporary South Asian auction brings a curated selection of paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the region’s celebrated artists. A star lot of the sale is Maqbool Fida Husain’s vibrant masterpiece Mithuna Crimson, which was previously in the collection of Chester and Davida Herwitz and included in the artist’s first solo international institutional presentation at the Worcester Art Museum in 1974. Another centrepiece is Bhupen Khakhar’s monumental painting Old Men Playing Chess, included in his 1972 exhibition Truth is Beauty and Beauty is God, held at Chemould Gallery in Bombay and comes from the Estate of the artist. Leading with Khakhar, the auction lends special focus to the Baroda School with works by Shanti Dave, K.G. Subramanyan and his students Vivan Sundaram and Dhruva Mistry. Other highlights include works by Rabindranath Tagore, Francis Newton Souza, Sayed Haider Raza, Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, George Keyt, Meera Mukherjee, Zarina and Zahoor ul Akhlaq.