Christie's New York sale of Modern and Contemporary Indian Art held on 20 September 2006 totaled $17,811,360 million, the highest total ever achieved in the field. It also confirms the spectacular rise of Indian art after Christie’s broke the $1 million threshold for the first time in September of 2005 when Tyeb Mehta’s Mahisasura sold for a breathtaking $1.6 million. This sale's top lot was Francis Newton Souza’s Man and Woman which realized $1,360,000 and was bought by an Indian hedge fund manager.

“Reflecting back on our first sale of modern and contemporary Indian art in New York which took place in 2000 and realized $600,000, today’s event was a tremendous testimonial to the buoyancy and the energy of Indian art, its collectors and its supporters,” said Yamini Mehta, Head of Modern and Contemporary Indian Art.

Top prices in today’s sale were achieved for established as well as contemporary artists. An extraordinary group of works by Francis Newton Souza from the collection of the British epicurean, businessman and connoisseur, Robin Howard CBE, was among the major highlights. His majestic Man and Woman, 1954 achieved $1,360,000, more than quadrupling its pre-sale estimate while Nyasa Negress with Flowers and Thorns doubled her pre-sale figure when the painting fetched $856,000. Two more Souza works, Untitled (Spanish Landscape), 1960 and Row of Red Houses with Trees, 1957 sold for respectively $688,000 and $374,400.

Tyeb Mehta, one of the most coveted artists in the field, was presented with Untitled (Figures with Bull Head), circa 1987. This impressive composition in yellows, greens and shades of grey which pre-figures Mehta’s obsession with the Goddess Durga, realized $1,136,000 and was acquired by an Indian private collector.

Property from Madame Krishna Riboud included two superb works by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde which also performed at high levels. Untitled, 1971 achieved $688,000 and the second Untitled – Green Mountain – painted in the same year realized $632,000. Widely traveled, with impeccable taste, Indian-born Krishna Riboud became one of France’s most avid supporters of avant-garde art, exploring a passion which was extraordinarily eclectic and broad but also focused on work by her fellow countrymen in a time when Indian artists were relatively unknown outside of their native country. A descendant of the Tagores, one of India’s most renowned artistic families, her infallible sense of beauty and rarity helped form the collection of Asian antiquities and textiles of the Musée Guimet in Paris

Contemporary artists put their mark on the sale as well. Shibu Natesan’s Stand Alone, 2003, a composition based on the artist’s time in Helsinki was bought for $198,000 more than doubling the pre-sale estimate and establishing a new record for the artist. Subodh Gupta sailed high winds with his painting Round the Corner, 2004 fetching $90,000 and with his conceptual sculpture Gober/Ganesha realizing $84,000.

Records were set for Jagdish Swaminathan, Jogen Chowdhury, Arpita Singh, Shibu Natesan, Bhupen Khakhar, Aisha Khalid, Nusra Latif Qureshi, Avinash Chandra, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Jitish Kallat, Ahmed Shabbudin.

ABOUT FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA

Francis Newton Souza the founder of the Progressive Artist's Group in 1947 is 'best known for his inventive human forms particularly the heads. Born in Goa in 1924 he was a student at the J.J. School of Art from where he was expelled in 1942 for participating in the Quit India Movement. He left for London in 1949 where after an initial period of struggle his work began to have an impact. The Institute of Contemporary Arts included his work in a group exhibition in 1954 to be followed by a solo show at Gallery one in 1955. The publication of his autobiographical piece 'Nirvana of a Maggot' in Encounter magazine that was then edited by the poet Stephen Spender also won him recognition.

A series of exhibition that followed did well and were reviewed by well-known art critics like John Berger who noted that Souza "straddles many traditions but serves none". Apart from his paintings he proved to be very articulate and an ingenious writer as his book "Words and Lines" published in London in 1959 revealed. He was on his way to being recognized as an outstanding painter when he left for the United States and settled in New York in 1967. Souza participated in the Commonwealth Artists of Fame exhibition in London in 1977 and has had several exhibitions including one man shows in Paris in 1954 and 1960 and in Detroit in 1968. His retrospectives were held in New Delhi and Mumbai in 1987 and a show at the Indus Gallery in Karachi in 1988. A large retrospective was once again held in New Delhi in 1996.

As a strong mode mist Souza's early work made an impact both in India and abroad. His strong, bold lines delineated the head in a distinctive way where it was virtually re-invented the circles, hatchings and crosses.

Francis Newton Souza died at the age of 77 on Thursday 28 March 2002 in Bombay.

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