This month at Sotheby’s London, the Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art auction will offer rare artworks from the South Asian region spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Paintings, sculptures, ceramics and works on paper from across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be on view at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries between 19th – 25th September. The sale will be highlighted by an exceptionally rare, and characteristically humorous, self-portrait by Bhupen Khakhar, making its auction debut, and a work by Sayed Haider Raza last appearing at auction over twenty years ago.
Ishrat Kanga, Head of Sotheby’s London Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art, said:
This season we are delighted to bring to the market fresh and exciting works by South Asia’s leading modern masters. The sale features a wide representation of countries, mediums and subjects that showcases the creativity and diversity of the region’s artists, including works by Sayed Haider Raza, Bhupen Khakhar, Francis Newton Souza, Zainul Abedin, George Keyt and Ganesh Pyne.
Bhupen Khakhar’s Dentist, est. £1-4 million
The sale will be led by an unusual self-portrait by Bhupen Khakhar – depicting the artist as a dentist and his partner, Vallabh Bhai, as patient – a testament to the wit, humour and affection that embodied both Khakhar’s artistic endeavours and his personal relationships. Throughout his artistic career, Khakhar demonstrated an unwavering interest in painting the people and places of his surroundings. In Dentist, Khakhar continues to rejoice in the unremarkable. The profession of the dentist joins rank with Khakhar’s other celebrated trades and is one of a number of later works which echo the seminal subject of the 1970s series, such as Sweet vendor (1980) and Tailor Shop (1988).
The work was exhibited at the Reina Sofía’s major exhibition of Bhupen Khakhar in 2002, the first retrospective of the artist’s work to be held in Europe and was hand-selected by the artist for inclusion in the landmark show. Khakhar is the eponymous dentist, shown pulling the teeth of his beloved Vallabh Bhai. Contrary to other works which depict the couple in tender embrace, here, the painter places them in a clinical setting. The painting also references the sensual nature of his work from the 1980s onwards. Dentist traverses the decadal divisions of Khakhar’s oeuvre and showcases important echoes and shifts within his themes, mediums and styles. Acquired from the artist shortly after it was painted, Dentist is coming to auction from the private collection of a close friend of the artist, with an estimate of £1- 4million.
Also to be offered is Terra Amata, a seminal work by Sayed Haider Raza, previously in the Chester and Davida Herwitz collection. Considered one of the most revered private collections in this field, the couple first visited India in 1961, where they began to purchase paintings by M. F. Husain, who then introduced them to other artists. Their varied collection grew to include over 3,000 works of modern art from India.
Terra Amata was last at auction at Sotheby’s New York over twenty years ago, as part of the Contemporary Indian Paintings: The Chester and Davida Herwitz Charitable Trust auction in 2000. The painting was exhibited in numerous museums and galleries around the world during the 1980s, including The Grey Art Gallery in New York and in the milestone show Coups de Coeur at Halles de l’Ile, Geneva. In March 2024, Sotheby’s New York set an international auction record for Raza’s Kallisté – one of his landmark canvases from the 1950s – and now Terra Amata (1984) will be offered at auction for the first time in two decades.
Further works formerly in the Herwitz collection will also be on view, including an outstanding painting by Ganesh Pyne (est. £300,000 – 600,000) and a vivid canvas by Manjit Bawa (est. £100,000 – 300,000). Sotheby’s London achieved the international auction record for Bawa in October 2023, when his masterpiece Untitled (Shiva) sold for £1.9m ($2.3m), as part of a sale that doubled all estimates to achieve £8,179,379 / $9,948,988 (with over 88% of lots offered surpassing their high estimates).
Other highlights include three key works by Maqbool Fida Husain which encompass a range of subjects and periods within the artist’s oeuvre. Untitled (The Wild Horse) (est. £180,000 – 250,000) features one of the most powerful symbols of Husain’s practise – the stallion – which the artist uses as a vehicle for multiple utterances, including aggression, power and protection. A symbol of frenzy and unhurried movement, Husain’s fascination with horses began at an early age with his grandfather taking him to the local farrier to see horses of all breeds as a young boy. Other works by Husain on view include a vibrant oil on canvas (est. £80,000 – 120,000) from 1968 which will appear at auction for the first time in over a decade, as well as a largescale, multi-figure scene depicting a revolution (est. £100,000- 150,000).
Sotheby’s South Asian Art Sale On View from 19th – 25th September Ahead of Auction on 26th September, Sotheby’s London
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