Gaitonde`s painting fetches record price at Sotheby`s

London: A newly discovered art piece - `Painting No. 1` of 1962 - by Indian artist Vasudeo S. Gaitonde has been sold for 698,500 pounds (about $1,093,000) at the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale here.

This is the highest price of the summer season for auction house`s South Asian Art sale known as the `Amaya collection`. It was sold Tuesday. Two paintings by late Indian artists M.F. Husain - `Jhoola` of 1961 and `Untitled` (three women with sitar) of 1979 - were sold for 242,500 and 188,500 pounds respectively. Bhupen Khakhar`s "Air, Stream and Speed" soared above its pre-sale estimate of 100,000-150,000 pounds to touch 182,500 pounds. Gaitonde`s masterpiece was consigned to an attic for many years since the owners were unaware that it was the work of an eminent Indian artist. Discovered during a valuation by one of Sotheby`s New York specialists, the treasured piece was estimated at 250,000-450,000 pounds during pre-sales. "We were thrilled, but not altogether surprised that Gaitonde`s exquisitely subtle and incandescent ‘Painting No. 1` was the pick of the week`s sales in London. There was intense competition for this important and exceptionally rare work," said Yamini Mehta, international head of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Sotheby`s London and New York in a statement. `Painting No. 1` is the first of a series of works Gaitonde produced in 1962. `Painting No. 4` from the same series is currently in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. IANS