Christie's first ever India auction sees Gaitonde art sell for Rs 23.7 cr

Mumbai: The first-ever auction held by the global auction house Christie's in India on Thursday evening saw a Vasudev Gaitonde painting getting sold for Rs 23.70 crore or $3.792 million.

In dollar terms, it is a record price ever fetched by the work of an Indian artist, Christie's said, adding that a US-based individual outbid others to bag the painting.

The price surpassed an earlier record set by an SH Raza painting.

[caption id="attachment_1297713" align="alignleft" width="380"] An auctioneer displays a work by artist Tyeb Mehta which was bid at British auction house Christie's maiden auction sale in Mumbai on Thursday night. PTI[/caption]

Christie's sold 83 works for over $16.3 million or Rs 102 crore, in what turned out to be its second-highest revenue grosser evening where Indian contemporary art was up for grabs.

Steven Murphy, the international CEO of Christie's, said it was "auction at its best where the art spoke for itself", and the auction house would return to Mumbai next December or even earlier.

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The two works which fetched the second and third highest prices were both of Tyeb Mehta (Rs 19.78 crore and Rs 9.86 crore).

PTI