Amrita Sher-gil, Jamini Roy, MF Husain and more at Christie's first auction in India

For the next two days, there’s priceless treasure sitting in Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace: works from auction house Christie’s’ first auction in India. On December 19th, Christie’s will auction some outstanding works of modern Indian art, but before these priceless works get price tags with numerous zeroes at the end, the auction house has put up a preview exhibition at the Taj.

The centrepiece of the Christie’s sale are the works from the personal collection of the late Khorshed and Kekoo Gandhy, who founded Chemould gallery in Mumbai and played a critical part in supporting and nurturing the Indian art scene when artists like MF Husain and FN Souza were young unknowns. Chemould the gallery began as a part of Kekoo Gandhy’s frame shop before setting up a small place in Jehangir Art Gallery, in Mumbai’s art district, Kala Ghoda. In 2007, the gallery shifted to Fort and was rechristened Chemould Prescott Road. This year, Chemould celebrates 50 years of being in the business of Indian art and providing a platform for some of India’s finest artistic talents.

Among the works from the Gandhys’ collection in the Christie’s sale are paintings by the legends of Indian modern art, like MF Husain, SH Raza, Vasudeo Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Jamini Roy and Tyeb Mehta. Most of these artists were friends of the Gandhys and the art collection that they built over the decades is an intensely personal and cherished one. It contains works like a family portrait by Husain and art that was inspired by the times the artists spent with the Gandhys, like Raza’s “Matheran”, which he painted after a visit to the Gandhys’ family home in the hill station of Matheran. There are also works by the next couple of generations of artists, like Nasreen Mohamedi, Anju Dodiya and Nalini Malani.

The sale also includes some fabulous paintings by Amrita Sher-gil, acquired from a different private collection. It’s not very often that we get to see works by these artists in India and rarely are private collections like these made open to the public. Don’t miss this exhibition.

Auction viewing at The Taj Mahal Palace, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai; December 17-December 19, 2013.

To find out more about the auction, click here.