Pakistan @ the summer auctions in London

by Artwallaa

 

Aisha Khalid - Source: Sotheby's website 

The Summer auction sales for the South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art will start from next week with Christies and Sotheby’s auctioning on the same day (June 11, thankfully on in the morning and one in the afternoon) while Bonham’s “Islamic and Indian Art’ is scheduled for the 18^th of June.

With the artists continuing to make mark on the international auction scene, there are 37 works of Pakistani artists appearing in 26 lots over 4 different auctions in June alone. Sotheby’s has given prominent space to 26 works from Pakistani artists with lot number 61-76 in a total of 90 lots (Lot #66 is from Zarina Hashmi and I would consider her as much Pakistani as Indian, even though she is technically now American). Christie’s ‘South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art’ has works from Pakistani artists sprinkled across the entire auction, with eight works in 7 lots. Bonham’s has a couple of beautiful Gulgees while Rashid Rana’s famous Veil Series (Veil IV) appears in the main stream Sotheby’s ‘Contemporary Art Day’ on June 27^th.

Sadequain - Source: Sotheby's website

The auctions represent a good mix of both modern and contemporary Pakistani artists starting with the seven Chughtai etchings at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The next one is an unusual, untitled and a very early work of Sadequain from 1950 at Soethby’s. A pen and ink on paper, it portrays a village scene and seems to have good provenance, purchased by Dutch expatriates living in Pakistan in 1956 (good provenance has become critical in the past decade as fakes have flooded the market). The second Sadequain is also an ink on paper composition from 1962. Christie’s also has two paper works of Sadequain.

Allah Buksh - Source: Christie's website

 

There is a small (12 by 8 inches) and peculiar work of Allah Buksh appearing in the Christie’s. A water colour and pencil work on card, it is the portrait of a lady in traditional clothes and beautiful shades of pink. This wok was recently sold in a Swiss auction house in November 2012.

 

Ismael Gulgee - Source: Bonham's website

The two Gulgees at Bonham’s are the artist’s trademark works. Both compositions are rich in colour, with confident and somewhat violent exhibition of brush strokes.

Shemza - Source: Christie's website

 

And then there are beautiful works of Shemza who continues to have a strong resurgence more than 27 years after he passed away. His two works at Christies (Lot #33 and 34) are real gems based on the brilliant use of geometric forms. Sotheby’s has 4 works of Shemza too which are good, but Christie’s take the cake on Shemza!

Imran Qureshi - Source: Christie's website

 

On the contemporary side, both auction houses seemed to have dug up an Imran Qureshi each. The artist has catapulted to the main international scene after winning the prestigious Artist of the Year award for 2013 and also after the opening of his Roof-top installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  Both works are from his 2005-06 ‘Reshape’ series, one coming from the ASAL Collection (The Art Fund out of London) and the other from India. Equally important (if not more in iconic sense) is the work of Rashid Rana appearing in the mainstream (where global artists are put together regardless of regions they come from) Sotheby’s auction ‘Contemporary Art Day’. The highly provocative and equally acclaimed work from the Veil Series will undoubtedly create excitement amongst collectors globally.

 

Naiza Khan - Source: Sotheby's website

There are two works from the usually ‘difficult to get’ Aisha Khalid from her 2006-07 exhibitions in London and Hong Kong. Also included in the sale are works from Farida Batool (‘Line of Control’ is provocative at many different levels), Naiza Khan, Sehr Shah and Talha Rathore.

The quality and the quantity of the work appears much better than the spring collection in March (in New York). Collectors of Pakistani art are in for an exciting few weeks.

Click here to go to Christies website
Click here to go to Sotheby's related website page
Click here to go to Bonham's related website page

Pakistan art makes a good debut at the first dedicated art auction

 

Pakistan's first dedicated art auction at Saffronart made a reasonable debut at the recently concluded on-line auction. While the overall percentage of lots sold was a mediocre 46%, some of the aritsts' works were sold at the highest prices ever achieved for their works in an auction. 

Saffron's announcement of a dedicated Pakistan art auction had created a lot of excitement amongst the art circles. People who follow Pakistan art clearly have the view that the art coming out of the country is much more interesting, in depth, experimental and diverse then a number of its peers in the region. But it is underrepresented at the global level (like most good things from Pakistan!). Saffronart's move therefore created hopes of raising Pakistan art's profile beyond its traditional avenues (galleries in Pakistan and a handful outside Pakistan). The auction was preceded by a number of articles and talks arranged by the auction house to raise awareness.

For a country, starving for good news, a positive buzz and excitement about this auction was natural !

The excitement was accompanied by a lot of anxiety and nervousness too. Tough global economic environment especially in India was one of the concerns.The nervousness rose further when the details of the auction were announced a couple of weeks before the auction itself. The number of works avaliable seemed too large (70) and so was the broad diversity of artists represented in the auction. The price estimates appeared aggressive too, especially for artists who have had no strong international exposure. This was probably driven by the fact that most of the works came from commercial concerns like Aicon Gallery, Canvas Gallery and Asal Collection (Green Cardamom) rather than directly from collectors.

Amongst this backdrop, the auction did well. Out of the total 70 lists available, 46 were sold, achieving a 66%. In total Pakistan art worth US$310,883 was sold sat the auction.  

	No.	Percentage
Total lots in auction	70	100%
Lots sold	46	66%

	US$
Total Winning Value (inclusive of buyer's premium)	310,883

 The top lots by value were dominated by the known names like Jamil Naqsh, Imran Qureshi and Rashid Rana. A number of new artists made it into the most expensive list, like Ali Kazim, Saira Wasim and Bani Abdi.  

There were also a number of artists who made their auction records by achieving the highest selling price ever for their work in this auction. These artists include Imran Qureshi, Ali Kazim, Bani Abidi and Saira Wasim. 

Top 10 Lots by Value

Lot No	Artist Name	Title	Winning Value (US$)
25	Jamil Naqsh	Untitled	27,692
31	Imran Qureshi	Moderate Enlightenment	21,000
33	Rashid Rana	Ommatidia II (Salman Khan)	15,600
18	Ali Kazim	Red Taveez	14,412
1	Anwar Jalal Shemza	Male + Female	14,100
30	Shazia Sikander	Let It Ride # 3	12,888
10	Saira Wasim	Passion Cycle	12,000
32	Bani Abidi	Intercommunication Devices	10,385
38	Ali Kazim	Untitled	10,385
2	Ahmed Parvez	Untitled	9,600

 

We hope to see this auction becoming a regular feature. To Saffronart, our recommendation will be to focus on a smaller number of works (30-40), more focused artist pool, add approximately 10% items with a  substantially higher ticket per item and a little of the Masters too (but staying away from the fake factory!).

While the results of tihs auction can be best described as mixed, we see the glass half full rather than half empty. We view the start of this auction as another another push towards the slow but positive momentum of Pakistan's art development at the global stage. Christies now gives a much broader space to Pakistan art, Bonhams has been pushing Paksitan art for year, Yamini Mehta's move to Sothebys is sure to provide more filip to Pakistan art presence at their auctions. slowly, there is critical mass being developed. Pakistan art space in 2015 will look very different from now. We hope to enjoy that journey together with you !