From a thousand rupees in 1960 to nineteen crores in 2016; the cost of Akbar Padamsee’s Greek Landscape

Rashima Nagpal

September 14, 2016
3 min read
Art Auction modern art Saffronart

Saffronart’s auction fetched big transaction for modern maestros

The leading auctioneer Saffronart recently curated an auction of 87 works of Indian Modern Art by eminent artists like SH Raza, Akbar Padamsee, MF Husain, F N Souza and more, at The Leela Palace Delhi.

Greek Landscape by Akbar Padamsee, sold for 19.9 crores

The piece that has turned out to be a knockout is Akbar Padamsee’s Greek Landscape that set a new world record for the artist by doubling its upper estimate of 9 crores to sell for a whooping 19.19 crores. It surpassed the previous world record of the artist of around 9.3 crores set by Sotheby’s for Reclining Nude in 2011.

An acclaimed artist himself, Krishen Khanna had bought Padamsee’s Greek Landscape for a thousand rupees in the year 1960 to seek inspiration. Although letting it go for an auction after all these years was hard for him, he did so considering the amount of care the masterpiece needs to sustain.

“As if I had done it yesterday,” Padamsee said on seeing his Greek Landscape after six decades. Look at his reaction here!

Furthermore, amongst the top bids at the auction were V S Gaitonde’s Untitled oil on canvas, 1970, estimated at Rs 10-15 crores which sold for Rs 10.12 crores. M F Husain’s Dreams, 1979, estimated at Rs 3–5 crores sold for Rs 4.44 crores. S H Raza’s La Terre, 1986, sold for Rs 3.84 crores. Artists such as Ila Pal, A A Raiba, Sir Jacob Epstein and G M Solegaonkar, whose works are relatively rare at auctions were decently received.

Nasreen Mohamedi’s Untitled, Sold for 2.4 crores

A platform for fine art and collectibles with over fourteen years of experience in auctions, Saffronart caters to the growing community of Indian collectors, and at the same time bridging the gaps between cultures for both the global Indian diaspora and the international community at large. Saffronart has set several global benchmarks for online auctions and is the subject of a case study at Harvard Business School.

Hugo Weihe, CEO at Saffronart expressed his joy post auction, “We are thrilled with the world auction records we set tonight, notably for Akbar Padamsee and Nasreen Mohamedi. The sale provided a wide spectrum of Modernist works, and even works that are unusual at auctions have been received very well. We are also gratified by the interest shown by international collectors.”