Sotheby’s to auction rare Gaitonde work

NEW DELHI: A freshly discovered artwork of renowned abstract painter Vasudeo S Gaitonde will lead Sotheby London's sale of modern and contemporary South Asian Art on June 11.
Regarded as one of the finest painters of India, Giatonde’s work titled, Painting No. 1, comes to an auction for the first time after 50 years in a private New York collection.Before that the painting was owned by the celebrated international champion of Indian art, John D Rockefeller III.
Painting No. 1 of 1962 was acquired in New York during the 1960s by Rockefeller III, considered as one of the earliest Western patrons of Indian modern art.
Estimated at 250,000-450,000 pounds, the large 50 x 50 inch oil on canvas has the hallmark radiance of Gaitonde’s key works from an important year in his career.
Consigned to an attic for many years, the painting was discovered during a valuation by one of Sotheby’s New York specialists. The work’s owners were unaware that it was a painting by one of India’s most important artists. Gaitonde passed away in 2001.
According to Yamini Mehta, Sotheby’s International Head of Indian and South Asian Art, there’s incredible excitement on the discovery of Gaitonde’s work. “This is the first work in a small and highly important series of paintings that Gaitonde executed at a critical stage in his career. Due to his slow and meticulous method of working, he produced very few canvases during his lifetime. His works are typically monochromatic, so this exquisitely subtle and incandescent work offers the opportunity for a collector to purchase an outstanding and exceptionally rare work by one of India’s leading modern masters.”
With Indian art the flavour this summer in the global art market, Sotheby’s has sourced a line-up of works by M F Hussain, Francis Newton Souza, Bhupen Khakhar and Jehangir Sabavala in its first Evening Auction of Indian art.