24 February,2013 10:53 AM IST | | Phorum Dalal
Works of MF Husain, SH Raza and Atul Dodiya are all waiting for your bid today and tomorrow on the online gallery AstaGuru.com's No Reserve Auction. And believe it or not, the price for some of these priceless works of art starts at Rs 20,000.
The pieces - 60 works of contemporary art from two collectors and 30 from various other collectors - will be on display at Institute Of Contemporary Indian Art at Kala Ghoda tomorrow. So in case you don't want to buy but simply admire the paintings, you can go view the exhibition between 11 am to 7 pm.
A painting by MF Husain
Explaining the No Reserve concept, Tushar Sethi, director of AstaGuru says, "For a painting that we expect would bring between Rs 4 lakh and 6 lakh, the normal reserve price (starting bid) would be between Rs 1 and 2 lakh. But here, we will start the bidding from as low as Rs 20,000."
Buyers can register on the website and fill the auction form. "We check the status of the person just in case anyone is blacklisted. We also check the reference, which is a must, either from a gallery or an artist. For first time buyers, we may accept a letter from the bank," says Seth.
The theme of the auction is smaller format works, which range in size from four by six inches to six feet by three feet. Artists whose works will come under the hammer include MF Husain, SH Raza, Ram Kumar Jogen, Atul Dodiya, Reema Kallat, Bose Krishnamachari and A Balasubramaniam.
"These are paintings that their owners collected over the years. One collector has a Husain work which cost him Rs 300. A 1943 watercolour on paper, the work is part of Husain's nursery series. This painting is from the time the artist's kids were growing up and he was in the phase of painting all things fairy tale," explains Sethi.
Another interesting piece is an artwork from Bose,Burnt Book series. Here, he pasted books on a wooden platform and painted over it. "It showcases his belief that art does not emerge from books, but from thought process," says Sethi. Up for grabs also, is a watercolour on paper by India's ex-prime minister VP Singh.
