Christie’s is back

After breaking the world auction record for the highest selling Indian artist in June this year, Christie's auction is back. SH Raza's art was sold for $3.5 million in the last auction, the highest till date. Scheduled for September 15, the South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction will be held in New York.

Art lovers, collectors and connoisseurs have another reason to be excited about. This auction is the only one, which provides an option for real-time screening and bidding, while the auction is on. For this, people need to register online and then they can be a part of the auction from any corner in the globe.

Hugo K Weihe, Senior Vice President, Christie's, who was recently in India for a pre-sale preview of the art work said, "There is something for every buyer, from works on paper to sculptures". He added, "We see lots of NRIs from America and England investing in these art works". This time around, there are about 104 pieces ready to be auctioned and the highlights include coveted works of Raza, Hussain and Souza.

The works are ranged from a whopping $15,000 to $2.5 million, (R 6.5 lakh to R 11 crore approximately). "Our focus is to bring out the best in both the categories — modern and contemporary", says Deepanjana D Klein, Christie's specialist for South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art. "We also have a very strong contemporary section this time," she adds.

About the buying trend that they have noticed over the years, Klein says, "Most of the modernists' work is collected by Indians. But the sale of contemporary art work varies with every auction." As the only international auction with a permanent presence in India, Christie's is also bringing the best of global art to Indian collectors. Hope the barter continues.

For real-time bidding, you have to register online 24 hours before the auction time at https://www.christies.com/livebidding/index.aspx .