Film Review: Midnight's Children - Mixed Bag

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Street singer (Samrat Chakrabarti)

Adversaries Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha) and Shiva (Siddharth)

Saleem with Parvati (Shriya Saran) 

By Raj S. Rangarajan *

India’s independence on August 15, 1947 is revisited by Man Booker Prize winning novelist Salman Rushdie’s story, Midnight’s Children that is now a movie. Directed by Toronto-based Deepa Mehta, and adapted and narrated by Rushdie, the film has received mixed reviews in North America and in other parts of the world.

Thanks to the names associated with the film and the buildup, one expected more from the film. Sometimes, filming fiction by an erudite writer could be frustrating. The film starts loftily but soon, in predictably formulaic pattern deteriorates into the mediocre, while being surprisingly spectacular. After Water and Fire one expected more out of Mehta. 

As India declares independence from Great Britain on August 15, 1947 (Rushie calls it India’s remake of American independence), two male babies are switched at birth at midnight in a hospital in Bombay by Mary the midwife (Seema Biswas, Patang, Water directed by Deepa Mehta) with questionable loyalties toward the wealthy.  The boys are Saleem and Shiva and, born seven seconds after midnight was Parvati (Shriya Saran,Sivaji: The Boss). 

Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha, debutant in a feature film) and Shiva (Siddharth Rang de Basanti) are destined to live in differing worlds – one in a fancy home with an automobile and the other forced to earn a living as a street performer.  Female lead Parvati, who is friendly with both the boys, displays magical abilities and the word “abracadabra” is a staple in the film.

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MIDNIGHT CHILDREN’s GREEN CHUTNEY

Mary’s bright “grasshopper green” chutney is a Proustian unifying memory for Saleem and the trigger for his exploration of the past, “The taste of the chutney was more than just an echo of that long-ago taste – it was the old taste itself, the very same, with the power of bringing back the past as if it had never been away...Once again an abracadabra, an open-sesame: words printed on a chutney-jar, opening the last door of my life.”

The “chutnification of history” is a way to retrieve and interpret memory. On the last pages of the novel Saleem describes this, with the same words as the movie’s ending, “One day, perhaps, the world may taste the pickles of history. They may be too strong for some palates, their smell may be overpowering, tears may rise to eyes; I hope nevertheless that it will be possible to say of them that they possess the authentic taste of truth...that they are despite everything, acts of love.”

Saleem’s memories of his childhood and of home are wrapped up in his ayah Mary’s green chutney throughout Midnight’s Children. The bright green condiment is always on the table, and served with every meal, including breakfast. When Mary consoles the young Saleem in the hospital after the startling revelations of his “bad blood”, she promises him “all the chutney in the world”. On Saleem’s lonely first night in his aunt Emerald’s household, he has a photo of Mary and a jar of her chutney on his bedside table: his only comforts. And when Mary meets teenage Saleem at the Karachi train station when he returns from exile, the first thing Mary offers to do for him is to make his favourite chutney. And of course the discovery of Mrs. Braganza’s bottled chutney is...well, momentous.  As Saleem says in his voiceover, narrated by Salman Rushdie, “Sometimes emotions are stirred into food and become what you feel. And sometimes people leak into each other, like flavours when you cook.”

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Because of a bronchial condition that is not explained, Saleem is able to see and talk with all the other 500 odd surviving children that were born in India (August 15) on that fateful night. In the assemblage are hot-tempered Shiva and the pretty witch Parvati.

Over a 30-year period, the connection between Saleem’s and Shiva’s lives unravel with class divisions about the privileged and the poor, jealousy and rage, heartbreak and hope, about intrigue and the emotion of feeling entitled. Saleem, a victim of amnesia, acts genuinely confused and is as complex as the movie.

Shiva, now a ruthless military commander meets Saleem in a confrontation while Parvati tries to seduce Shiva. Wee Willie Winkie (Samrat Chakrabarti Viswaroopam), as a street singer, adds comedic elements to his musical repertoire. Cameraman Giles Nuttgens has a field day capturing the kaleidoscope aspects of the theme. Rushdie’s screenplay carries passion with his story vividly bringing home the historic event that was attendant with societal problems of the day whatever one’s station in life.

Saleem’s favorite chutney -- a specialty that Mary, the former nurse -- now a maid with the Sinai household -- used to prepare comes up as a reminiscent detail. (See separate box on Midnight Children’s Green Chutney.)  

Commenting on the novel, written decades ago, film director Deepa Mehta says: “It is a coming-of-age story, full of the trials and tribulations of growing up, and of the terrible weight of expectations. What separates it from other thematically similar films is that the story is not only about a boy but also about his country, both born at the very same time at a pivotal point in Indian history. Saleem’s journey as our vulnerable, misguided hero is always intertwined with the struggles of the newly independent India, as it finds its own voice in the world.”

For the stats-minded, the film (running time: 140 minutes) covers four generations over five distinct time periods and three wars. It was shot in 65 locations in India and Sri Lanka in 70 days, and has 127 speaking parts.

Appearing on John Stewart’s Daily Show recently Rushdie said, considering that Bombay has been more far-reaching than Hollywood in terms of numbers of films made, instead of Bollywood, the place should be called “Hombay” as Mumbai’s film headquarters. 

Mehta adds: “collaborating with Rushdie on this film project was pure delight and we were in sync since Salman and I were both from the Indian diaspora with intertwined roots in India?”

* Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, reviews books and films for media based in New York; Toronto, Canada; and India. He can be reached atraj.rangarajan@gmail.com

The Business and Passion of South Asian Art

By Raj S. Rangarajan 

     April 2013

Left: M. F. Husain, Lighting Horses, ca. 1979, oil on canvas. Collection of Sri and Harsha Reddy.
(Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum)

The writer interviewed a curator, collectors, gallery owners, auctioneers, and artists in New York, Mumbai, and Bangalore to gauge what drives South Asian art and artists.

Bangalore-based Chinni Rajputana is passionate about collecting art, but is not too happy about the current state of the South Asian art market. In recent years the artists that she loves to own are not being shown at galleries or auctions. Shandilya Shankar, a New York venture capitalist who likes to turn a quick buck on contemporary Indian paintings, is not happy with the market, either. He feels only the best known names—a Husain or a Tyeb Mehta or a Souza—are fetching demand, making the market quite narrow.

Over the past four years, the South Asian art market has been on a rollercoaster ride. Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Figures with Bull Head), sold in March 2012 for $1.8 million, quite below expectations. In September 2010, La Terre, 1985, an acrylic by Raza sold for merely $1.93 million, below its estimated value of $2.5 million. Using another parameter, in March 2012, of 124 lots offered at Christie’s sale of South Asian modern and contemporary art, only 69 percent got sold. At Sotheby’s across town, in the same category, only 57 percent were sold.

Those were the downers, but as with any roller-coaster ride, there were the ups, too. Mehta’s diptych, Bulls, sold in 2012 at $2.8 million while Syed Raza’s Saurashtra went for $ 3.24 million, also last year.

Last September one 2nd/3rd century Gandhara sold for a whopping $1.25 million. Was it really worth the price for the “anonymous” buyer or institution that picked up this piece? Sandhya Jain-Patel, specialist for Indian and Southeast Asian Art at Christie’s New York, had then commented, “Top lots, especially sculptures from Gandhara, Nepal, and Tibet were underbid and were bought both by seasoned buyers and first-timers.”

Underbid or underpriced? Was it a market correction? Or, was there more to this aberration?

Depending on who you talk to in the industry, two distinct and contrasting scenarios are emerging.

Is art simply a speculative business?


The volatility and unpredictability in the art market in general and the South Asian one in particular raises several questions. Why indeed are some works fetching prices that defy logic? What are buyers of such art looking for? A sense of joy or pride of ownership or is it sound investment value for the work? And if it is not investment value, then what precisely is propping up such a price tag? Or, is it also perhaps the legend or hype that is created around the work and the artist?

Is art and the promotion of art simply the art of business and marketing? One would imagine so, considering the millions of dollars being spent all over the world on pricey catalogues, promos, and exhibitions. These days everything is a commodity—an item to be well-packaged, well-marketed, and sold. The art aspect or intrinsic value of the artist’s message or opinions and the artist’s skills do not seem germane any more. Has merchandizing taken over from art?

In spite of the dips and highs of the stock market and the anemic nature of today’s sputtering economy, art as a commodity seems to be doing well. There are big bucks to be made, and with the right promoters, artists such as Husain or Tyeb Mehta or Souza continue to draw greater attention—more so after their passing.

Tyeb Mehta, Sequence, 1981, oil on canvas. Peabody Essex Museum, gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection. © The Estate of Tyeb Mehta. (Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum, photograph by Walter Silver.)

“Indian art is so popular now that several Americans and Europeans with market knowledge of their artists take special trips to other parts of the world to attend public auctions since art is considered a wise investment”, says Deepak Talwar, owner of Talwar Gallery, New York.

While price is one benchmark to evaluate an artist, it is not the only one.

Provenance (the history, time, and circumstances surrounding the creation of the art) has always been equally important. Quite often, “collector” groups attend private sales that are not reported publicly; neither are prices disclosed. The art world has gotten larger globally with a wider perspective and reach and continues to grow.

The art collector is a different breed

Talwar draws a distinction between “buying” and “collecting” art. There are several buyers of art with money but it is only the discerning art-literate who is a collector. Today’s buyers of South Asian art are more guarded in their purchases, he observes. His advice: read about the artists, their styles and motivations; inform yourself about the origin and background of a piece before buying it.

Persons of Indian origin, not necessarily those based in India, continue to be a driving force in promoting Indian artists’ creations in India. Many bidders at public art auctions are knowledgeable about provenance and prices and could go toe-to-toe with specialists whose job it is to study and evaluate the market.

Where is the Indian art market headed? Dinesh Vazirani, co-owner of the online auction house Saffronart, foresees a positive movement in the sales of contemporary South Asian art: “[The market] is already beginning to regain momentum: we are beginning to see a slow and steady development in the infrastructure, galleries, museums, as well as more support from the public and private sectors.”

Currently on view at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, is an exhibition titled Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence, showcasing the work of three generations of Indian painters. The ups and downs of the market are an inherent part of the business, feels Trevor Smith, Curator of Contemporary Art at the museum, also known as PEM: “Any market in which there is no uncertainty is by definition not a market.”

Smith adds, “Markets evolve and taste changes. There is an incredible diversity of art and artists in South Asia. Many younger artists have made incredible inroads into international markets and the broader critical consciousness.”

Antiques, Bronzes, and Miniatures

Fluctuations in the prices of modern and contemporary Indian art have led buyers to invest in another significant art tradition—miniatures. “Many people want to invest in [contemporary art], but the explosive rise in prices resulted in the unsustainability of these prices when people wanted to sell. Thus people have started looking at other categories including miniatures as an investment where the rise is slow, steady and sustainable. Of course, even here quality, condition and period is of vital importance,” says Maher Dadha, Chairman and Managing Director, Bid & Hammer, fine art auctioneers in Bangalore.

Vazirani agrees: “We have been seeing the demand for antiquities and miniature paintings rising in India and there is great room for growth. However, miniatures have differing markets in India and outside due to the export regulations of the Government of India.”

Bronzes, another important tradition of Indian art, remain confined to museums and institutions because they’re too expensive for individual collectors, says Maher Dadha. “Because some of the older bronzes are very expensive and not perhaps as liquid as other works, individual bidders cannot afford them, and it is the museums, institutions, and corporate houses that can be convinced more easily to buy these bronzes.”

Bikash Bhattacharjee, The Lady with the Gas Cylinder, 1986, oil on canvas. Peabody Essex Museum, gift of the Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection. © The Estate of Bikash Bhattacharjee. (Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum, photograph by Walter Silver.)

In India, purchases of contemporary art, either as adornment for their own personal spaces or as investment, seem to be de rigueur among the wealthy.

The Mumbai-based artist couple Atul and Anju Dodiya have had exemplary successes. Notwithstanding their success, the vagaries of the art market must have some impact on their creative process. Did consideration of the market ever affect the quality of their work and motivation?

Anju, known for her artistic versatility at varied levels, warms up: “Creativity and the market are two separate things. When one is alone in the studio, facing the painterly problem, one cannot afford to be distracted or even motivated by the market. I have to remain focused and concentrated. That has always been my process.”

As the response to the Dodiyas shows, the Indian art collector and buyer clearly have art on their shopping list. Admittedly the fluctuations in the market have not pleased many investors. But ultimately, with patience and informed investment, the Rajputanas and the Shankars could build up an enviable collection that could offer them both satisfaction and value.

“Art has no timeline; beautiful works of art are timeless—to be treasured no matter when they were created. We collect both contemporary art and antiques: it is our heritage, it belongs to all of us. Sri and I are just temporary custodians,” says Harsha Reddy, who with his wife Sri, has been a longtime collector.

Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance, covering trend stories on art, books, and films.

Patang (Kite): Soars with Sensitive Story

BY RAJ S. RANGARAJAN *


A thought-provoking film with serious overtones, Patang is definitely not Bollywood. Seniormost in the film’s credits is Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen, Water) who makes sure that the seriousness of the film is maintained though, admittedly there are hilarious moments within the family story dynamic when kites are soaring in gay abandon on the vibrant streets of Ahmedabad.

An exuberant Priya (Sugandha Garg) in dance

A thought-provoking film with serious overtones, Patang is definitely not Bollywood. Seniormost in the film’s credits is Seema Biswas (Bandit Queen, Water) who makes sure that the seriousness of the film is maintained though, admittedly there are hilarious moments within the family story dynamic when kites are soaring in gay abandon on the vibrant streets of Ahmedabad.

In a story set around the Makar Sankranti festival on January 14 (a.k.a. Uttarayan in some parts of India) the film will reverberate in several parts of the country. Delhi businessman Jayesh (Mukund Shukla) returns to his family home after five years and wants to make good by his family. He wants to set up a condo across town for his mother and sister-in-law Sudha (Seema Biswas) and his nephew, Chakka, a 20-plus man without a job who generally hangs out with young boys in the neighborhood.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur,Kahani) plays Chakka and keeps the tension going while highlighting earlier family slights and resentments with his mother, Sudha and Jayesh’s mother. The bright light in the movie is Jayesh’s daughter, sparkling Priya (played by Sugandha Garg) who is visiting the city for the first time. Her earlier appearance was in My Name is Khan, and Sugandha’s infectious laugh and expressive face do the talking.

Hamid Shaikh awestruck by kites

The film weaves together the stories of six people transformed by the energy of India's largest kite festival. Made of paper and bamboo, these colorful kites are metaphors for many families in Ahmedabad every year when they show off their kite-flying prowess while letting go off their emotions.

Flying a kite successfully is a virtual journey into a philosophical realm. Apart from the breeze that exhilarates it is a cathartic experience as one looks up at the busy sky triumphantly: the freedom and expertise of controlling a square piece of paper and bamboo amidst competitive forces in the form of other challenger kites with glass-laced strings, the merciless wind and the messy skyline with hovering satellite towers and disks from building roofs. 

Shanker Raman (Harud, Peepli Live) has captured the essence of the passionate kite flyer’s psyche through his camera in the night sky. Kites with candles and lanterns glow each narrating a story or expressing a feeling, a thought or a mere moment in his busy life.  Raman’s earlier efforts were Harud and Peepli Live.

Chakka (Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a band

While Chakka is all swagger and resentful of his uncle, Priya’s seductive fondness for a young shop clerk, played by Aakash Maherya from the neighborhood adds to the suspense when Aakash takes her on a scooter ride and one wonders: Will the father take objection to his daughter hanging out with this young boy? Will Chakka have a serious falling out from his uncle? Will the undelivered bunch of kites affect the future of young Hamid Shaikh who lives on the streets and is an associate of Chakka?

Prashant studied theatrical directing at the Actors Studio Drama School in New York and computer science at Cornell University. A native of Chicago, Prashant's interest in the arts began as a graffiti artist. This film Patang (the Kite) was featured at The Berlin Film Festival and in the world Narrative Competition at the Tribeca Film Festival. Patang won the Golden Orchid Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 2011 Hawaii International Film Festival and at the DC APA Film Festival.

Director and writer, Prashant talks fondly of the amount of “intense research he did for the film and how spindles of thread and bundles of kites” form the fabric for this touching 92-minute film.

Prashant says, “Scenes were not rehearsed; they were improvised largely with non-actors and shot hand-held in long takes, without the conventional over-the-shoulder shots. As a result, the edit was a two-year process of distilling and constructing a scripted narrative from 200 hours of documentary-like footage. Just watching the footage took over a month.

“I began by constructing those scenes with major plot points and then proceeded to the transitional scenes. I would make small discoveries, pulling a shot from here, splicing it with a magic moment there, and then returning to the overall structure. Eventually the edit captured the narrative of the original script.”

Indeed, the filmmakers do convey with panache the sense of euphoric excitement that the city is part of in a very real manner. And the film soars.

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[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, reviews books and films for media based in New York; Toronto, Canada; Seoul, Republic of Korea; and India. He can be reached at raj.rangarajan@gmail.com]

South Asian Modern Sales Show Mixed Market

      By Raj Rangarajan and Eileen Kinsella

 NEW YORK—London sales of South Asian modern and contemporary art, at Sotheby’sand Christie’s last week, presented a mixed picture of the market with widely uneven results.

At the Sotheby’s June 8 sale of South Asian modern contemporary art and Indian miniature paintings, just 37, or 42 percent, of the 88 lots offered found buyers. By value, the auction was 23.5 percent sold, one of the lowest such rates seen in any category. The sale realized a total of £546,800 ($844,915).

Sotheby’s specialist Holly Brackenbury said: “The Indian art market is undergoing a period of adjustment after the heights it reached several years ago. It is still developing and, at present, collectors are highly selective.”

She added that “there was strong pre-sale interest in many of the paintings and we anticipate that this will translate into post-sale offers for several key works.”

Still, most of the top lots met or exceeded estimates, including a work by modern masterFrancis Newton Souza, whose painting Goan Landscape, 1964, sold for £68,450 ($105,769), well above the £30,000/40,000 estimate; and A. Balasubramaniam’s fiberglass and acrylic sculpture titled Gravity, 2006, which sold for £43,250 ($66,830) on an estimate of £20,000/30,000.

An untitled oil painting by Sri Lanka-born artist George Keyt sold for £16,250 ($25,110), compared with an estimate of £8,000/12,000.

The remaining top lots, even those by the most prominent painters of this genre, fell within relatively modest presale estimates. Ram Kumar’s 1956 untitled oil sold for £55,250 ($85,372), on an estimate of £50,000/70,000, and Sayed Haider Raza’s oil Ville d’Avray,1962, sold for £34,850 ($53,850).

At Christie’s South Asian modern and contemporary art sale, the house offered 112 lots. Of these, 86, or 77 percent, found buyers. The auction was also 77 percent sold by value.

The top-selling lot was Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Mahishasura), 1996, which sold for £1.4 million ($2.1 million) on an estimate of £1.2 million/1.8 million.

Raza also figured in the top lots here, with Clocher du Village, 1958, taking £481,250 on an estimate of £450,000/600,000, while another of his works, an untitled 1980 painting, sold for £121,250 ($188,544) on an estimate of £120,000/180,000. Also by Raza, Untitled(Crucifixion), 1957, sold for £103,250 ($160,554) on an estimate of £40,000/60,000, andVillage au fond rouge, 1958, also cleared its £40,000/60,000 estimate to sell for £85,250 ($132,564).

Hugo Weihe, Christie’s international director of Asian art, said the sale “performed well across the board with works which were fresh to the market and from private collections securing strong prices.” Weihe said the auction “demonstrated the breadth of demand for this category with collectors, institutions and dealers from South East Asia, India, the Middle East to Europe and the United States bidding throughout.”

Among the more contemporary works, Bharti Kher’s Border in Red, 2009, comprised of bindis on aluminum panel, sold for £85,250 ($132,564), compared with an estimate of £50,000/70,000. Two works by Manjit Bawa also figured in the top lots, each selling for £85,250 ($132,564): Untitled (Goat with Aubergines), 1992, which had an estimate of £60,000/80,000; and Untitled (Acrobat), 1988, which had been estimated at £40,000/60,000.

Vibrant Bidding at Christie’s Hong Kong Sales

         —Raj S. Rangarajan 

Vol. 37, No. 37

NEW YORK—Fine art accounted for more than HK$1.4 billion ($181 million) of the overall HK$2.7 billion ($351.7 million) total at Christie’s recent Hong Kong auctions, including six-day and evening sales.

At the evening sale of Asian 20th-century and contemporary art, held on May 26, the total was HK$361.7 million ($46.6 million) and the auction was 91 percent sold by lot, 96 percent sold by value. Sanyu’s Blue Chrysanthemums in a Glass Vase, painted in the 1940s, led the sale with a final price of HK$47.7 million ($6.1 million), surpassing the high estimate of HK$28 million. Also in the top lots, and marking the sale’s third-highest price at HK$38.7 million ($5 million), was Pink Lotus, also painted in the 1940s. Zeng Fanzhi took second place with Fly, 2000, which sold for HK$39.8 million ($5.1 million). Zao Wou-Ki continues to be at the forefront of these sales, with three of the top-ten lots fetching a total of HK$45.7 million ($5.9 million) for his works, each at prices higher than estimated.

The day sale of Asian 20th-century art, on May 27, totaled HK$170.5 million ($22 million), with 85 percent sold by lot, and 96 percent sold by value. The Asian contemporary art figure was HK$97.2 million ($12.5 million), with 72 percent sold by lot, 79 percent sold by value.

Eric Chang, international director of Asian 20th-century and contemporary art, attributed “the robust results of the sale in part to Christie’s integration of southeast Asian contemporary and modern art into the overall Asian category, creating a wider pan-Asian platform.”

In the 20th-century category, Lin Fengmian’s Opera Series: Beauty Defies Tyranny, painted in the 1950s, sold above estimate at HK$11.6 million ($1.5 million). Chu Teh-Chun’s Accent d’orgue, 1995, sold at HK$9.6 million ($1.2 million) and his work figured again in the top ten with Untitled No. 221, 1965, selling at HK$4.8 million ($620,816), or two times the high estimate of HK$2.4 million. Also in this category, Zao Wou-Ki figured in the top ten with two works obtaining a total of HK$10.2 million ($1.3 million).

In the Asian contemporary art sale, the top lot Hearth, 1988, by Shang Yang, sold at five times its high estimate, for HK$6.4 million ($821,744). Zeng Fanzhi, known for his “Mask” series, placed second with his 1997 Mask selling at HK$5 million ($651,728).

The fine Chinese modern paintings sale, held May 29, fetched HK$454.1 million ($58.5 million), and was 91 percent sold by lot and 93 percent sold by value. In the top ten, five paintings by Zhang Daqian brought prices above estimate, with Separation, 1996, selling for HK$34.2 million ($4.4 million). The remaining four works totaled HK$54.7 million ($7 million).

Ben Kong, international specialist head of Christie’s Chinese paintings department, said Chinese paintings sales this season “continued to incite bidding from a diverse group of collectors, further reflecting a pattern of sustained growth in the market for Chinese paintings.”                                                                                                                     

Sotheby’s Hong Kong Sales Reap Rewards of Regional Buying

by Raj S. Rangarajan

NEW YORK—Sotheby’s Hong Kong spring sale series, held April 2–4, totaled HK$2.4 billion ($316 million), compared with a total last spring of HK$2.6 billion ($337 million).

While Chinese ceramics and works of art, as well as jewelry, continue to be the top-earning sales categories here, auctions of modern and contemporary Asian art also performed well.

In the evening contemporary Asian art sale on April 2, the total was HK$211.3 million ($27 million) with Bloodline – Big Family: Big Family No. 2, 1993, an oil on canvas by top-selling Chinese contemporary artist Zhang Xiaogang, having sold for HK$52.2 million ($6.7 million). An acrylic on canvas, 1993 No. 4, 1993, by Fang Lijun, fetched HK$28.7 million ($3.7 million). Both of these were sold to a museum in Shanghai.

Evelyn Lin, head of contemporary Asian art, said, “We were able to source numerous desirable works of Xiaogang’s for sale, notably this masterpiece.” A record was also set for Jia Aili’s It’s Not Only You Who is Pale (Triptych), 2007, an oil on canvas with a painted wooden chair. The painting sold for HK$6.6 million ($848,718), surpassing the HK$2.5 million/3.8 million estimate.

The 20th-century Chinese art category totaled HK$255 million ($32.6 million), while modern and contemporary Southeast Asian paintings on April 2 brought in HK$96 million ($12.3 million). Of the 166 lots offered, 79 percent were sold by lot, 92 percent by value. The top lot was Banyan with Two Young Balinese, by Walter Spies, which sold for HK$9.6 million ($1.2 million), followed by Self Portrait with Child, by Hendra Gunawan, which sold for HK$6 million ($771,794).

Records were set for contemporary works, including Red Ceiling by Ay Tjoe Christine, which sold for HK$2.4 million ($310,256), well above the high estimate of HK$350,000, and The Purple Curtain by Vietnamese artist Le Pho, which sold for HK$2.9 million ($371,795), again clearing the high estimate of HK$800,000.

Said specialist Mok Kim Chuan, “as in previous seasons, bidding came from all over Asia with determined interest from new markets in the Greater China region.”

Zao Wou-Ki, a pioneer in abstract work, figured in five of the top-ten lots in the 20th-century Chinese art category, on April 2, with his 25.06.86 setting a new auction record when it sold for HK$25.3 million ($3.24 million). His 25.05.70 followed, selling for HK$24.2 million ($3.1 million). Both works were bought by Asian private buyers.

On April 3, the fine Chinese paintings sale realized HK$468 million ($60 million). A pair of gold screens, Willows at the Riverside; Begonias by Qi Baishi was bought by an Asian private bidder for HK$70.1 million ($9 million), three times the high estimate of HK$20 million. Mount Lu by Fu Baoshi was sold for HK$24.2 million ($3.1 million) at three times the high estimate of HK$7 million.

Asian Art Sales Dip From Year-Ago Highs

by Eileen Kinsella and Raj S. Rangarajan

NEW YORK—Asian art sales held in New York the week of March 19–23, yielded lower overall volumes than last year, despite broad international demand for certain categories. Christie’s realized over $60 million, for seven sales, including three private collections. The top category was the house’s sale of Chinese ceramics and works of art that had realized $23.3 million as ARTnewsletter was published. It was followed by a private collection sale of Indian and southeast Asian art, assembled by dealer and collector Doris Wiener, that took a record $12.8 million. By comparison, Christie’s took in $117 million at last spring’s sales, and $60 million in 2010.
Sotheby’s realized $61.8 million for four sales, led by classical Chinese paintings, which accounted for $35 million, or more than half of the total, followed by Chinese ceramics, which brought $20.7 million. Indian and southeast Asian art yielded $3.8 million, while modern and contemporary south Asian paintings brought $2.1 million. In 2011, Sotheby’s took in $84 million, compared with $22.6 million in 2010 (ANL, 4/5/11).

Modern Masters Lead South Asian Painting Sale

Christie’s sale of south Asian modern and contemporary art on March 21 realized $7.7 million for 124 lots offered. Of these, 85, or 69 percent, were sold. By value, the sale realized 82 percent.
The top lot was Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Figures with Bull Head), 1984, an oil on canvas that sold for $1.8 million, compared with an estimate of $1.5 million/2 million.
The second-highest lot was Akbar Padamsee’s Cityscape, 1959, which sold for $1.3 million against an unpublished estimate in the region of $1 million.
Also by Padamsee, Mirror Image, 1996, was the third-highest lot. The diptych oil on canvas sold for $422,500, falling within the $400,000/600,000 estimate.
Hugo Weihe, Christie’s international director of Asian art and specialist in South Asian modern and contemporary art, said “works from modern masters continue to lead sales and contemporary works received renewed interest.”
The rest of the sale was led by mainstays, including Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain, as well as more recently executed works, including those by Subodh Gupta.
Syed Haider Raza’s Untitled (Village), 1958, sold for $410,500, compared with an estimate of $200,000/300,000. The sale included a total of seven works by Raza that brought in just over $1 million altogether. Nuage Blanc, 1956, sold for $290,500 on an estimate of $150,000/200,000.
Souza’s Chance, 1966, also sold for $290,500, meeting the estimate of $250,000/350,000. A 2007, untitled oil on canvas, by Gupta, that featured the artist’s signature steel pots and pans, sold for $218,500 to a private Asian buyer.
Husain’s Untitled (Keehn Family Portrait), 1959, sold above the $100,000/150,000 estimate, for $206,500, to a dealer.
Said Weihe: “Cross-cultural buying continues to play a significant role in the development of this market, and this season’s was no exception. Contemporary works were mostly acquired by clients from the US, Europe, the UK, India and Hong Kong, with many of them being first time bidders.”
The Indian and southeast Asian art sale, also held March 21, realized $6.3 million, with 90, or 63 percent, of the 143 lots offered finding buyers. The top lot was a buff sandstone torso of Uma, 10th century (Khmer, Angkor period, Pre-Rup). It sold for $1.1 million, far surpassing the $350,000/450,000 estimate, and to a private European buyer. Japanese and Korean art contributed a more modest sum of $1.7 million with just 36 percent sold by value.
Christie’s auction of the Doris Wiener collection saw robust demand, with 346, or 93 percent, of 374 lots finding buyers. By value, the sale was 96 percent sold. Weihe said the auction marked a “milestone” and was the highest total ever achieved for a single-owner collection of classical Indian and southeast Asian Art at Christie’s. He added that the results are a reflection of a “market that honors quality and provenance.”
The top lot was a gilt bronze figure of Padmapani, 13th century (Nepal), that sold for $2.49 million, against an estimate of $250,000/350,000. Another bronze group of Somaskanda, ca. 11th century (South India, Chola period), sold at $1.8 million, compared with a high estimate of $1.2 million.
Sotheby’s March 19 modern and contemporary south Asian art sale brought a total of $2.12 million. Of the 84 lots offered, just 48, or 57.1 percent, were sold by lot. The auction was 41 percent sold by value.
Raza topped the sale, with Jalashaya, 2000. The piece sold for $242,500, falling within the $200,000/300,000 estimate, to a private Indian buyer. It was followed by Husain’s Untitled (Scientist), 1965, which also sold for $242,500, against an identical estimate of $200,000/300,000.
Jagdish Swaminathan’s Untitled (Bird, Tree & Mountain Series), 1972, sold for $194,500, well above the $80,000/120,000 estimate, to an Indian dealer. Specialist Priyanka Mathew noted several strong prices, but conceded that the market is “selective,” and yielded “mixed results” in certain areas.
There were four other works by Husain in the top lots: Udaipur, 1962, sold for $98,500, meeting the $80,000/120,000 estimate; Untitled (Horse), an undated oil on mounted canvas, sold for $62,500, compared with an estimate of $50,000/70,000; Untitled (Woman on a Horse), undated, sold for $56,250, exceeding the $15,000/20,000 estimate; and an untitled gouache and ink on paper, 1949, depicting a woman with a broom, sold for $52,500, compared with an estimate of $35,000/55,000.
The Sotheby’s March 21 sale of Indian and southeast Asian works of art totaled $3.8 million, with 72 percent sold by lot and 74 percent sold by value. The top lot was a standing Vishnu, ca. 12th century (Nepal), which was bought by an American buyer for $590,500, against a high estimate of $300,000. The second-highest lot was a polished brown sandstone of Uma, 11th century (Khmer, Baphuon period), which was bought for $530,500, over four times the high estimate of $120,000.
Anuradha Ghosh-Mazumdar, head of the Indian southeast Asian art department said, “top lots—sculptures of Vishnu and Uma were completely fresh to the market, which helped drive prices well over the high estimates and reflected a stable market in this category.”
At Sotheby’s March 20 Chinese ceramics and works of art sale, two “Heaven and Earth” revolving brushpots from the Qianlong period led the sale. Both of the rare pieces well exceeded their respective $120,000/150,000 and $80,000/120,000 estimates to achieve a combined total of $3.5 million. Henry Howard-Sneyd, Sotheby’s vice chair of Asian art, said: “collectors are prepared to fight for objects with rarity and good provenance when offered at conservative estimates.