Says London-based art writer about Sotheby's controversial auction of Tagore's paintings Despite murmurs of protest by the West Bengal and Indian governments, 12 of Nobel prize winner Rabindranath Tagore's paintings (see sketch) are set to go under the hammer at an auction at Sotheby's Galleries on New Bond Street in London on June 15.
The paintings were the property of private educational trust Dartington Hall Trust in Devon, South UK for 71 years. They are up for auction as the Trust is planning to use the funds for other ventures.
An art collector in Kolkata who wished to remain anonymous, said, "If the West Bengal government is so worried about this sale, they must bid and buy the paintings. Instead, the Indian and West Bengal governments have been lobbing the ball into each other's courts."
Desis have the dough
A London-based art writer who is to attend the auction, says, "According to popular opinion in the London art world, if the Indians want them, they can jolly well buy them. Indians have enough money as illustrated by a Delhi woman's purchase of the £2.3 m Raza painting at a London auction, a couple of days ago."
Mixed media moves
The 12 paintings are mixed media works on paper. They cover themes Tagore is best known for -- isolated figures and landscapes. In an email interview Holly Brackenbury, Islamic and Indian Art deputy director at Sotheby's, wrote, "Sotheby's and Dartington Hall Trust (private educational trust that gave the works to Sotheby's for the auction) would be delighted if the works were returned to India. Indian institutions and private collectors will have an opportunity to bid for the works at the auction."
Pounds instead of protests
The message is clear: quit the protests and start bidding, India. Brackenbury adds that the collective worth of the Tagore 12 is an estimated £250,000 (approximately Rs 17,013,610) and says, "The 12 Tagore paintings will be part of the South Asian Art sale which presents 88 works for sale, some of which include works by Francis Newton Souza, Sayed Haider Raza, Maqbool Fida Husain, Avinash Chandra, Manjit Bawa, Somnath Hore, Subodh Gupta and Jogen Chowdhury." | 
