In its upcoming ‘Modern Treasures’ Auction, AstaGuru will showcase a captivating tapestry of Modern Indian Art with an exquisite array of rare and exemplary works by iconic Indian modernists. Each masterpiece in the catalogue traces the artistic evolution of both the presented artists as well as the changing landscape of Indian art through the decades. Several of these works are unseen, large-scale works appearing in an auction for the first time. Presented below are the highlights of the upcoming auction.

Lot no. 1: 'Angels’ Concert....Homage to Mozart’ by Homi J Bhabha



'Angels’ Concert....Homage to Mozart,’ is an oil on canvas painting, which brilliantly coalesces two of the art forms he was most passionate about – painting and music. This captivating painting portrays a celestial scene where ethereal figures, resembling heavenly angels, are depicted as musicians, part of an orchestra. The artist has also inscribed the painting with his initial ‘H’ in the centre of the canvas.

Lot no. 4: Cotton Factory by S.H. Raza



Cotton Exchange in Dallas, Texas housed key players of the cotton industry. The market in Dallas was set to be the largest inland cotton market in the USA, and would trade with countries around the world including India. They commissioned S.H. Raza to depict the country’s industry through his unique style. The artist created a series of enigmatic watercolours documenting the many processes involved in the trade, from farming to processing. The presented lot stands out from the rest of the series, as he explores an industrial setting, depicting an animated scene from within a cotton factory.

Lot no. 6: Winter Morning by Ganesh Pyne



The presented tempera on canvas painting by revered artist Ganesh Pyne was executed in 1971, at the beginning of a decade, which would come to be one of the most productive phases in his career. Depicting a solemn figure of a child adorning a cape, this tempera on canvas creation captures a powerful message about the child's resilience in the face of poverty. The cape, traditionally associated with superheroes, becomes a symbol of hope and strength.

Lot no. 22: Untitled by Bhupen Khakhar



The presented lot is an untitled watercolour painting created during a mature phase of the artist's career in 1996. The decade of the 1990s was an important period for artist Bhupen Khakhar. He had created a reputable identity for himself as an artist, and his works had been showcased at several venues across India. His famous work ‘You Can’t Please All’ was also acquired for the Tate Collection in the same year as the creation of this work.

Lot no. 40: Untitled (Abstract Landscape) by Bikash Bhattacharjee



When he joined the Indian College of Art and Draughtsmanship in 1958 he met his teacher Arun Bose who would go on to be an influential mentor in the artist's life. Arun Bose would encourage all his students to conduct ‘outdoor studies’ which would involve documenting what they witnessed on their walks outside. Bikash Bhattacharjee would choose to walk through the bylanes of the city, documenting the dilapidated buildings and neighbourhoods. His landscapes would evidently lack human presence and the buildings too looked like they lacked habitation.

Lot no. 47: Nude by Akbar Padamsee



Padamsee revisited the human form with a heightened degree of focus in a captivating series of paintings, such as the presented lot, portraying individuals and couples. Executed in 1987 with oil on canvas, the presented work is a pivotal testament to Akbar Padamsee’s artistic progression, both in terms of subject matter and development of his human forms, which transitioned from sharply defined figures to the ethereal abstraction in his later works that aimed to capture its profound emotive essence.

AstaGuru’s upcoming ‘Modern Treasures’ Modern Indian Art auction showcases a finely curated catalogue offering an eclectic selection of works by Jamini Roy, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, K. H. Ara, F. N. Souza, Sadanand Bakre, Akbar Padamsee, Krishen Khanna, Avinash Chandra, Ram Kumar, K. G. Subramanyan, H. A Gade, Ganesh Pyne, Jogen Chowdhury, G.R. Santosh, J Swaminathan, K. Laxma Goud, Thota Vaikuntam, K. K. Hebbar, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Bhupen Khakhar, Satish Gujaral, B. Prabha, Sakti Burman, Manu Parekh, Paramjit Singh, among others. The auction is scheduled on September 1-2, 2023.