Amrita Sher-Gil’s painting In the Ladies’ Enclosure fetches ₹37.8 crore at auction
NEW DELHI: Famed Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil’s In the Ladies’ Enclosure became the second most expensive Indian work of art sold globally, after fetching a whopping ₹37.8 crore at Saffronart’s recent Summer Live Auction.
Currently, a 1961 untitled work by V S Gaitonde that sold for ₹39.98 crore at another Saffronart sale earlier this year is the most expensive Indian art sold globally.
The oil on canvas created by Sher-Gil in 1938, a few years after her return to India, also set a world record for the artist.
The work was painted at the artist’s family estate in Gorakhpur and showcases a group of women engaged in myriad activities in a field.
“The record-breaking sale of Amrita Sher-Gil’s seminal painting is a clear indication of her artistic merit and is a testament to her skill and talent. The work highlights her growth and development as an artist and is a culmination of years of coming into her own as an artist of repute,” said Saffronart CEO and co-founder Dinesh Vazirani in a statement.
He added that the work was also a rare piece by the artist from that particular period to emerge in the art market.
Among other highlights of the sale that achieved a total value of ₹54.25 crore, were N S Bendre’s untitled painting from 1985, and F N Souza’s untitled work from 1956 that sold for ₹1.67 crore, and ₹5.04 crore respectively.
“It is the second-most expensive work sold by Bendre in auction. The highest work sold by the artist was for ₹1.98 crores at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction earlier in March 2021,” the auction house said in a statement.
The sale also featured Ganesh Pyne’s ‘The Window’ (1997), which sold for over twice its lower estimate at ₹1.1 crore; S H Raza’s untitled watercolour on paper from the 1940s, which sold for over double its lower estimate at ₹33.51 lakh; B Prabha’s Untitled (1959), which sold for ₹26.46 lakh; and an untitled acrylic on paper by M F Husain which sold for ₹24 lakh.