Tyeb Mehta`s work sets new price record at Christie`s

New Delhi: An untitled work showing a figure on a hand-pulled rickshaw painted by Tyeb Mehta in 1984 has set a new record for the artist`s works at a Christie`s auction in New York, a statement Thursday said. It sold for $3,240,077 (Rs.144.58 billion).

The sale overshot the pre-auction estimate of Rs.58.42 million-Rs.87.63 million), a statement by Christie`s late Thursday night said. The previous record for the artist was set this spring at Christie`s New York when "Bulls", a diptych painted by the artist between 2005-2007 sold for $2.8 million. Mehta is considered part of India`s greatest generation of contemporary artists that includes M.F. Husain, who died in London Thursday, and S.H. Raza. He was part of the Progressive Artists` Group that was formed after India`s independence in 1947. Mehta`s renowned `rickshaw` series serves as an homage to the human spirit in the face of adversity and the struggle for survival. It was conceived in 1983 when he was an artist in residence near Kolkata where the last vestiges of this human-pulled transport still remain in vogue. The work presents the viewer with a private moment, when the rickshaw-puller is at rest, momentarily serving no one. IANS