Husain`s work fetches over Rs 2 crore

New Delhi: An untitled work by eminent painter M F Husain sold for over Rs 2 crore at the Saffronart Spring Online Auction 2010. The art work that crossed the Rs 2 crore mark shows four horses and a female rider and was painted by Husain 1970.

The Saffronart auction Wednesday witnessed a resurgence in demand for works by pioneering contemporary masters, said a statement issued by the Mumbai-based online art auction house. A 1953 portrait by Akbar Padamsee, "Prophet", sold for Rs 1.25 crore against an estimate of Rs 36 lakh while F N Souza`s "Decomposing Head" went for Rs 1.57 crore against an estimate of Rs 1.12 crore. Subodh Gupta`s "Doot" sold for Rs 1.75 crore. The online auction raked in Rs 21 crore ($4.6 million). Said Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder of Saffronart: "The strong results of our spring Online Auction 2010 are an affirmation of the renewed confidence of the growing collector base for Indian art. The results from the auction indicate a consistent demand from collectors for top quality and rare works with important provenance." Saffronart`s Spring Online Auction featured 100 works by 47 modern and contemporary Indian artists including M F Husain, F N Souza, S H Raza, Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee, Subodh Gupta, Shibu Natesan, Anju Dodiya and Jagannath Panda. IANS