An auction of the Indian Modern Art painting at Sotheby's London has brought in 4.28 million dollars. The artist of the painting was Francis Newton Souza. Seven bidders competed for the painting which bore the name ‘The Red Road’. Finally the painting was sold to a client over the telephone. Souza had gifted the canvas to his wife Maria in 1962. The painting was also displayed at the Hayward Gallery in London in 1989.

 

Zara Porter-Hill, the head of the Indian Art at Sotheby's said that the bidders consisted of wide range of audience consisting of some private collectors, institutions and the trade. She further added that since the auction was a very big success hence a selected collection of works by Indian artists would be up for sale in New York later this month.

 

There were 120 paintings at the auction out of which 67 % were sold at a higher price than what was estimated. Among the modern group a painting by Subodh Gupta was sold for 264,500 pounds. A couple of paintings by Akbar Padamsee fetched 252,500 and264, 500 pounds respectively. Other paintings that fetched high prices included Rabindranath Tagore's Death Scene (sold for 144,500 pounds) and Jamini Roy's Santal Couple (sold for 29,300 pounds).