Raja Ravi Varma is the Flavour of the Auction Season

At the latest AstaGuru auction held on June 22-23, Raja Ravi Varma’s artwork was the top lot sold at Rs 30.88 crore

At the recently concluded AstaGuru auction of Modern Indian Art, titled Collector’s Choice, Raja Ravi Varma’s 1878 oil on canvas, Little Prince of Courage, emerged as the top lot, fetching Rs 30.88 crore. It’s an endearing portrait of a prince in regal finery and also holding a baby sword.

The top ten list shows that the Progressives, that have been an eternal flavour of the auction season, were accompanied by newer names that have become popular with the collectors in the past few years. To sum it up, the Top 10 list of this auction shows regular names that make up top 10 lists at any auction; not a single new name made it to AstaGuru’s Top 10 as well.

The top selling works at this auction were:

1. Little Prince of Courage by Raja Ravi Varma, Rs 30.88 crore
2. The Conversation by Ganesh Pyne, Rs 12.10 crore
3. Untitled (Bird, Tree & Mountai) by J. Swaminathan, Rs 5.65 crore
4. Savani | Des (Diptych) by M. F. Husain, Rs 5.44 crore
5. Untitled by F. N. Souza, Rs 4.50 crore
6. Untitled (Reminiscences of a Dream Series) by Jogen Chowdhury, Rs 3.79 crore
7. Scripted in Time II by Rameshwar Broota, Rs 3.75 crore
8. Untitled by J. Swaminathan, Rs 3.66 crore
9. Untitled by Ram Kumar, Rs 3.45 crore
10. Dancers by F. N. Souza, Rs 3.24 crore

Watch this space for a detailed auction analysis of the season, soon.