Delhi Winter Art Auction bids Rs 30. 3 crore

GOOD BID: ‘The modernists have been painting for 50 years and will be more popular,’ says director, Saffronart.

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Keywords: Modernists , M F Hussain

New Delhi: One of the biggest winter auctions in the country happened on Thursday. The Saffronart Winter auction made a profit of Rs 30. 3 crore with a 110 lots.

This year had all the big names in the top five bids but the absence of MF Husain's name in the list was surprising.

The top five works were:

Maha Bindu by S H Raza at a price of Rs.2.48 crore.
• The untitled work by Tyeb Mehta went down for Rs 2.29 crore.
• FN Souza's Titian's grandfather bid at Rs 2.25 crore.
• Another Souza called Disintegrated Head for Rs 1.44 crore.
• And finally Rameshwar Broota's Man hammered at Rs 1.37 crore.

But these are the most predictable names for in the top. There has been no shift in benchmarks. Despite the popularity of the young contemporary artists, these modernists rule the auction market even today.

"The modernists have been exhibiting, painting for 50 years. They will of course be more popular and recognised,” says Director, Saffronart, Dinesh Vazirani.

So as the Indian art market steps into 2008, one hopes to see contemporary names doing as good as the modernists.