India and South Asia
See also : Tibet and Nepal Buddhism Modern India Ancient sculpture Islam Time Instruments Textiles
Chronology : 1-1000 1000-1150 1150-1300 1700-1719 1860-1869
Chronology : 1-1000 1000-1150 1150-1300 1700-1719 1860-1869
Asceticism in Gandhara
2011 SOLD 4.45 M$ including premium
Buddhist iconography offers a full range of symbolic gestures and postures of Buddha. 1600 to 1800 years ago, the artists of the Gandhara, this crossroads of civilizations in the upper basin of the Indus, were particularly interested in his asceticism.
When he discovered the suffering and gave up his social status, Siddhartha tried to reach nirvana by a total asceticism. After six years of this life of renunciation, he realized that this extreme practice did not bring the solution and he achieved the awakening that enabled him to provide his teaching. Buddhism was born.
A schist figure of Gandhara 80 cm high, for sale by Christie's in New York on March 22, shows Siddhartha during this period. The body is skeletal, but the attitude shows that his powers are exacerbated by fasting. He sits cross-legged on the sacred grass. Below him, in a frieze, his followers pray.
Farther than asceticism, this realistic statue has a universal value by its representation of the self-control. It is a masterpiece, estimated $ 4M.
POST SALE COMMENT
I had no doubt about the importance of this work. Sold $ 4.45 million including premium, it has however not exceeded the expected price.
When he discovered the suffering and gave up his social status, Siddhartha tried to reach nirvana by a total asceticism. After six years of this life of renunciation, he realized that this extreme practice did not bring the solution and he achieved the awakening that enabled him to provide his teaching. Buddhism was born.
A schist figure of Gandhara 80 cm high, for sale by Christie's in New York on March 22, shows Siddhartha during this period. The body is skeletal, but the attitude shows that his powers are exacerbated by fasting. He sits cross-legged on the sacred grass. Below him, in a frieze, his followers pray.
Farther than asceticism, this realistic statue has a universal value by its representation of the self-control. It is a masterpiece, estimated $ 4M.
POST SALE COMMENT
I had no doubt about the importance of this work. Sold $ 4.45 million including premium, it has however not exceeded the expected price.
The Charming Pala Prince
2017 SOLD for $ 24.7M including premium
The dynasty which reigned through four centuries over Bengal and Bihar is identified as Pala, a suffix meaning "protector" that was added to the personal name of each monarch.
Three religions cohabitated : Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. They shared a same preoccupation of regulating the communication between the divine and the mortal. In Buddhism this function is assured by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
On March 14 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 233 a statue realized in the later phase of the Pala period around 900 years ago.
The young man sits on a thick lotus, one leg bent and the other hanging. This figure is carved in a black stone similar to a schist which was widely used in the Pala steles and whose hardness enables a great sharpness of sculpture.
He necessarily has all the qualities. The spectacular dynamism of the attitude appeals to dialogue with the faithful. He is a prince elegantly dressed with a profusion of pectoral jewels chiseled in the stone but he also is an ascetic recognizable by his braided hair. His belonging to Buddhism is identified by Amitabha hidden in a fold of the tiara : he is altogether Avalokiteshvara, the all-seeing lord, and Lokanatha, the savior of the world.
The character is life-size in this 148 cm high statue. Such characteristics unusual in Buddhist art suggests that it was the main devotional figure in a temple specially dedicated to Avalokiteshvara.
It was from 1922 an important piece in the collection of Indian art of the Boston Museum before being de-accessionned in 1935 for a trade with another statue of the same culture. The arms and nose were missing. The nose was later rebuilt.
Three religions cohabitated : Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. They shared a same preoccupation of regulating the communication between the divine and the mortal. In Buddhism this function is assured by the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.
On March 14 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 233 a statue realized in the later phase of the Pala period around 900 years ago.
The young man sits on a thick lotus, one leg bent and the other hanging. This figure is carved in a black stone similar to a schist which was widely used in the Pala steles and whose hardness enables a great sharpness of sculpture.
He necessarily has all the qualities. The spectacular dynamism of the attitude appeals to dialogue with the faithful. He is a prince elegantly dressed with a profusion of pectoral jewels chiseled in the stone but he also is an ascetic recognizable by his braided hair. His belonging to Buddhism is identified by Amitabha hidden in a fold of the tiara : he is altogether Avalokiteshvara, the all-seeing lord, and Lokanatha, the savior of the world.
The character is life-size in this 148 cm high statue. Such characteristics unusual in Buddhist art suggests that it was the main devotional figure in a temple specially dedicated to Avalokiteshvara.
It was from 1922 an important piece in the collection of Indian art of the Boston Museum before being de-accessionned in 1935 for a trade with another statue of the same culture. The arms and nose were missing. The nose was later rebuilt.
#AsianArtWeek : du 14 au 17 mars @ChristiesInc organise une série de ventes consacrées à l’art d’Asie https://t.co/RTGNrQolil pic.twitter.com/ampK2u6qRS
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) March 13, 2017
Awakening with the Sage
2015 SOLD for $ 4.9M including premium
Asian Buddhist bronzes show figures of deities that express the full range of helpful attitudes for communicating with the faithful: serenity, meditation, intimidation. The portraits of actual personalities are scarce.
The collector Robert Hatfield Ellsworth liked to surround himself with his favorite pieces scattered in his huge apartment in Manhattan. On the headboard of his bedroom, his preferred bronze greeted his awakening every morning. He named it his Yogi.
This statuette 32 cm high is the portrait of a sage seated in the lotus position. The wide open eyes indicate his will to communicate with his visitors and classifies him among the teachers. The smooth forehead without the third eye is confirming that the model was a human.
Several elements including the fleshy body and the dense and curly hair are reminiscent of Padampa Sangye. This important mahasiddha (great Buddhist adept) was born in South India and died 900 years ago after teaching perfection in Tibet for many years.
This bronze is estimated $ 1M for sale without reserves by Christie's in New York on March 17, lot 8. The subtitle of this lot in the catalog originates it in Tibet in the 11th or 12th century of our calendar, considering in fact that this figure is contemporary of the life of the sage or slightly later.
The collector Robert Hatfield Ellsworth liked to surround himself with his favorite pieces scattered in his huge apartment in Manhattan. On the headboard of his bedroom, his preferred bronze greeted his awakening every morning. He named it his Yogi.
This statuette 32 cm high is the portrait of a sage seated in the lotus position. The wide open eyes indicate his will to communicate with his visitors and classifies him among the teachers. The smooth forehead without the third eye is confirming that the model was a human.
Several elements including the fleshy body and the dense and curly hair are reminiscent of Padampa Sangye. This important mahasiddha (great Buddhist adept) was born in South India and died 900 years ago after teaching perfection in Tibet for many years.
This bronze is estimated $ 1M for sale without reserves by Christie's in New York on March 17, lot 8. The subtitle of this lot in the catalog originates it in Tibet in the 11th or 12th century of our calendar, considering in fact that this figure is contemporary of the life of the sage or slightly later.
Five Himalayan masterpieces from the Ellsworth Collection http://t.co/AhFhM0yAb5 #ArtDigest pic.twitter.com/28TWFu2r8l
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 5, 2015The Nepalese Bodhisattva
2015 SOLD for $ 8.2M including premium
In all religions, gods must be worshiped but are intimidating. In Buddhism, the bodhisattva solves this paradox. He is conceived as a faithful following the right path, on several levels of which the most developed reaches the perfection of a deity.
The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was popular under various names throughout the Buddhist world. Nepalese enthusiastically welcomed this charming young man entrusted for teaching purity to them. Nepalese bronzes show him in a standing position with a big lotus on its rod floating behind the left arm.
With his hand wide open as a sign of benevolence, his bare chest and his face focused on meditation, Avalokiteshvara is somehow the Apollo of Buddhism.
A gilt bronze 45 cm high made in Nepal 800 to 700 years ago was sold for $ 2.5 million including premium by Christie's on March 20, 2012 over a lower estimate of $ 250K.
A figure 64 cm high of very similar design is estimated $ 2M for sale without reserves by Christie's in New York on March 17, lot 25.
This gilt bronze includes a further refinement of high importance. The crown is centered with a fine seated figure of Amitabha, the Buddha of Nirvana, leaving no doubt about the role played by Avalokiteshvara to guide humans to the gods.
The bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was popular under various names throughout the Buddhist world. Nepalese enthusiastically welcomed this charming young man entrusted for teaching purity to them. Nepalese bronzes show him in a standing position with a big lotus on its rod floating behind the left arm.
With his hand wide open as a sign of benevolence, his bare chest and his face focused on meditation, Avalokiteshvara is somehow the Apollo of Buddhism.
A gilt bronze 45 cm high made in Nepal 800 to 700 years ago was sold for $ 2.5 million including premium by Christie's on March 20, 2012 over a lower estimate of $ 250K.
A figure 64 cm high of very similar design is estimated $ 2M for sale without reserves by Christie's in New York on March 17, lot 25.
This gilt bronze includes a further refinement of high importance. The crown is centered with a fine seated figure of Amitabha, the Buddha of Nirvana, leaving no doubt about the role played by Avalokiteshvara to guide humans to the gods.
Mr Ellsworth's Gilt Bronze Figure of Avalokiteshvara
(Nepal, 13th Century) realized $8,229,000 against $3m estimate pic.twitter.com/4D4ot0J7k0
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 17, 2015late 13th century - The Holder of the Thunderbolt
2016 SOLD for HK$ 49M including premium
On November 29 in Hong Kong, Bonhams sells a spectacular Tibetan statue of Vajrapani of extreme rarity, lot 108 estimated HK $ 22M. It is unique in its kind by its large size and superb condition.
Vajrapani is the appropriation of Indra by Buddhism. He holds the thunderbolt which takes the feature of a diamond scepter capable of ripping any material or enemy. The Buddhism tames the violence of the terrible warrior into an uncompromising defender of its moral teachings.
The 1.05 m high statue for sale is an assembly of six pieces of cast brass alloy inlaid with copper. The joints are positioned so as to remain invisible to the faithful. The oversized head is painted with cold gold and white and orange pigments. The hollow structure is closed in the back by a plate enabling to preserve ritual offerings.
By comparison of style with a Yuan stone stele showing the same figure, this statue may be dated from the late thirteenth century of our calendar. The turquoise and coral insets are later.
The artist has done everything to symbolize a fierce power : massive proportions, raised arm brandishing the lightning, knee bent by the warrior in action, lower garment decorated with tiger skin, wild facial expression, wide open bulging eyes, flaming beard, and the long fangs at the corners of the mouth.
Please watch the video shared by Bonhams.
Vajrapani is the appropriation of Indra by Buddhism. He holds the thunderbolt which takes the feature of a diamond scepter capable of ripping any material or enemy. The Buddhism tames the violence of the terrible warrior into an uncompromising defender of its moral teachings.
The 1.05 m high statue for sale is an assembly of six pieces of cast brass alloy inlaid with copper. The joints are positioned so as to remain invisible to the faithful. The oversized head is painted with cold gold and white and orange pigments. The hollow structure is closed in the back by a plate enabling to preserve ritual offerings.
By comparison of style with a Yuan stone stele showing the same figure, this statue may be dated from the late thirteenth century of our calendar. The turquoise and coral insets are later.
The artist has done everything to symbolize a fierce power : massive proportions, raised arm brandishing the lightning, knee bent by the warrior in action, lower garment decorated with tiger skin, wild facial expression, wide open bulging eyes, flaming beard, and the long fangs at the corners of the mouth.
Please watch the video shared by Bonhams.
Three treasured masterpieces Of #TibetanArt to be offered at #Bonhams #ImagesOfDevotion sale In HongKong 29 Nov. https://t.co/YT0LaQztnM pic.twitter.com/AwUvcDZ2XY
— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) October 3, 2016
Bonhams HK inaugural #HimalayanArt auction views in NY, w/ pieces from Ulrich von Schroeder https://t.co/OunAr7ZpIA pic.twitter.com/QydYDEGqjZ
— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) August 28, 2016
Cotton and Pashmina
2013 SOLD 4.8 M£ including premium
Mughal carpets are considered as the masterpieces from the textiles of India. One of them had remained during a century in the Vanderbilt family where it was highlighted by prolonged exposure in places of honor of the mansions.
Measuring 388 x 411 cm, it has a classic repetitive decor of millefleurs, with a star lattice. The drawing of the edge is a later design. It was woven about 300 years ago, but its appeal is largely due to the fact that it is not oldest, once will not hurt!
Indeed, the great ancient Mughal carpets were in silk and are significantly degraded. The Vanderbilt specimen is in cotton, in ivory color for the warp and blue for the weft. The upper layer or pile with the decorative pattern is in pashmina which is a wool from Kashmir.
It is estimated £ 1.5 million, for sale by Christie's in London on October 8.
POST SALE COMMENT
This exceptional carpet from North India greatly exceeded its estimate. It was sold for £ 4.8M including premium.
The image of this magnificent piece of textile in very good condition is shared on Wikimedia:
Measuring 388 x 411 cm, it has a classic repetitive decor of millefleurs, with a star lattice. The drawing of the edge is a later design. It was woven about 300 years ago, but its appeal is largely due to the fact that it is not oldest, once will not hurt!
Indeed, the great ancient Mughal carpets were in silk and are significantly degraded. The Vanderbilt specimen is in cotton, in ivory color for the warp and blue for the weft. The upper layer or pile with the decorative pattern is in pashmina which is a wool from Kashmir.
It is estimated £ 1.5 million, for sale by Christie's in London on October 8.
POST SALE COMMENT
This exceptional carpet from North India greatly exceeded its estimate. It was sold for £ 4.8M including premium.
The image of this magnificent piece of textile in very good condition is shared on Wikimedia:
1865-1870 A Maharajah converts to Islam
2009 SOLD 5.4 M$ including premium
The splendor of the Maharajahs was proverbial. When, shortly before 1870, the Prince of Baroda, Khande Râo of Gâekwâr dynasty, converted to Islam, he wanted to honor his new faith by an exceptional work.
He commissioned the creation of a carpet in pearls and gems, whose beauty can be worthy of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad at Medina. This work unique in its kind was made, but the Maharaja died in 1870 before the gift was made. The carpet was retained by the family, and remained there for over a hundred years.
It looks in its patterns like a textile carpet centered with three rosettes, and otherwise based on the millefleurs motif fashioned in India in the previous century. It consists of two millions of natural pearls, hundreds of gems of all kinds and a countless colored glass beads.
Sotheby's, which sells it in Doha on March 19, does not publish the estimate but only the starting bid: 5 MUS$. For the moment it is the most extraordinary artwork that has been announced for auction this year.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sensing the difficulties in the market for Islamic art, Sotheby's had lowered its starting bid at $ 4.5 million. They have done well. The carpet of pearls was sold at $ 4.8 million hammer, $ 5.4 million including fees.
He commissioned the creation of a carpet in pearls and gems, whose beauty can be worthy of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad at Medina. This work unique in its kind was made, but the Maharaja died in 1870 before the gift was made. The carpet was retained by the family, and remained there for over a hundred years.
It looks in its patterns like a textile carpet centered with three rosettes, and otherwise based on the millefleurs motif fashioned in India in the previous century. It consists of two millions of natural pearls, hundreds of gems of all kinds and a countless colored glass beads.
Sotheby's, which sells it in Doha on March 19, does not publish the estimate but only the starting bid: 5 MUS$. For the moment it is the most extraordinary artwork that has been announced for auction this year.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sensing the difficulties in the market for Islamic art, Sotheby's had lowered its starting bid at $ 4.5 million. They have done well. The carpet of pearls was sold at $ 4.8 million hammer, $ 5.4 million including fees.
1955 The Venus of Hampstead
2015 SOLD for $ 4.1M including premium
In London since 1949, Francis Newton Souza draws and paints grotesque portraits. While Bacon is inspired by Velazquez, Souza sees Titian. An oil on canvas 122 x 104 cm painted in 1955 entitled Titian's grandfather was sold for Rs 2.25 crore including premium by Saffronart on December 6, 2007.
In the same year, the most important work by Souza is titled Birth. This oil on panel 122 x 244 cm is estimated $ 2.2M, for sale byChristie's in New York on September 17, lot 709.
The anti-religious concern of the artist at that time enables to interpret this scene as a pastiche of the Christian Nativity. The atmosphere of the apartment is dark like a barn but the urban landscape of Hampstead where Souza then tried to live is visible through a structure resembling the stained glass windows of a church.
The pregnant woman is nude. Her hemispherical belly is close to the explosion. The bearded man in liturgical garments on the left of the image does not care for her. She is not appealing. He is the image of sin, or perhaps a self-portrait. The focal point of Souza against the Christian religion is the hypocrisy of redemption. The texture of the naked body is a cracked indecipherable graffiti which adds to the abjection of the scene, anticipating Twombly.
Critics see Manet's Olympia as a model for this woman by Souza. I would instead be tempted to recognize the Venus of Urbino, a symbol of fertility and thus indirectly of sin painted by Titian, one of the top Christian artists.
In the same year, the most important work by Souza is titled Birth. This oil on panel 122 x 244 cm is estimated $ 2.2M, for sale byChristie's in New York on September 17, lot 709.
The anti-religious concern of the artist at that time enables to interpret this scene as a pastiche of the Christian Nativity. The atmosphere of the apartment is dark like a barn but the urban landscape of Hampstead where Souza then tried to live is visible through a structure resembling the stained glass windows of a church.
The pregnant woman is nude. Her hemispherical belly is close to the explosion. The bearded man in liturgical garments on the left of the image does not care for her. She is not appealing. He is the image of sin, or perhaps a self-portrait. The focal point of Souza against the Christian religion is the hypocrisy of redemption. The texture of the naked body is a cracked indecipherable graffiti which adds to the abjection of the scene, anticipating Twombly.
Critics see Manet's Olympia as a model for this woman by Souza. I would instead be tempted to recognize the Venus of Urbino, a symbol of fertility and thus indirectly of sin painted by Titian, one of the top Christian artists.
1972 The Landscape of the Night
2018 SOLD for $ 4.45M including premium
The son of a forest ranger, Syed Haider Raza will keep throughout his life the impression of the promise of dawn, a transition between the terror of the night and the bright colors of the day. The landscapes of his early career are not located, mixing the feelings of his native Madhya Pradesh and of Provence with hills, villages and horizons. The explosion of colors already dominates the shapes.
Raza expresses the mystery of the soil, like Pollock. In the early 1970s he dares to address the dangers of the night. On March 21 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 222 Tapovan, acrylic on canvas 160 x 189 cm painted in 1972.
Tapovan is a Sanskrit word used in yoga, mixing the ideas of meditation and forest. Glowing red areas and bright yellow sparks dot the night scene. A careful inspection suggests the appearance of faces within flames and embers, not without evoking the expressive schematization of his fellow F.N. Souza.
If this interpretation is correct, it is exceptionally rare in Raza's usually dehumanized art and brings Tapovan closer to the primordial questions of the wild tribes and of Gauguin : D'où venons-nous ? Qui sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous ? And also : who are these spirits of the night ?
La Terre, acrylic on canvas 189 x 189 cm painted in the following year, is also an explosion of lights in the night but nearer to full abstraction. It was sold for $ 3.1M including premium by Christie's on March 18, 2014.
Raza will soon find an answer to this anxiety. An admirer of Rothko, he will systematize the inclusion of his abstract forms into a structure which in his case begins as a window. He abandons the night but not the ground and gives in the later phases of his career the main role to the essential form, the bindu.
Tapovan had been sold for $ 1.47M including premium by Sotheby's on March 29, 2006.
Raza expresses the mystery of the soil, like Pollock. In the early 1970s he dares to address the dangers of the night. On March 21 in New York, Christie's sells as lot 222 Tapovan, acrylic on canvas 160 x 189 cm painted in 1972.
Tapovan is a Sanskrit word used in yoga, mixing the ideas of meditation and forest. Glowing red areas and bright yellow sparks dot the night scene. A careful inspection suggests the appearance of faces within flames and embers, not without evoking the expressive schematization of his fellow F.N. Souza.
If this interpretation is correct, it is exceptionally rare in Raza's usually dehumanized art and brings Tapovan closer to the primordial questions of the wild tribes and of Gauguin : D'où venons-nous ? Qui sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous ? And also : who are these spirits of the night ?
La Terre, acrylic on canvas 189 x 189 cm painted in the following year, is also an explosion of lights in the night but nearer to full abstraction. It was sold for $ 3.1M including premium by Christie's on March 18, 2014.
Raza will soon find an answer to this anxiety. An admirer of Rothko, he will systematize the inclusion of his abstract forms into a structure which in his case begins as a window. He abandons the night but not the ground and gives in the later phases of his career the main role to the essential form, the bindu.
Tapovan had been sold for $ 1.47M including premium by Sotheby's on March 29, 2006.
1995 The Intangible Glimmer of VS Gaitonde
2015 SOLD for Rs 29.3 crores (worth US$ 4.4M) including premium
The artistic career of Vasudeo S. Gaitonde is a meticulous progress towards the light. Originally inspired by Rothko, the artist covers his paintings with a luminous paint often interrupted by darker expressions that may evoke some perspective.
Gaitonde is a Zen artist who favors meditation and works slowly. The rarity of his art, just over five paintings a year, has probably slowed the spread of his reputation.
On December 15 in Mumbai, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 140 x 102 cm, lot 25 estimated Rs 12 crore equivalent to US $ 1.8M. This painting is dated 1995. Gaitonde was 71 years old, and this picture is typical of the magnificent culmination of his research.
The color between ochre and gold has become almost monochrome. It plays with light by the effects of glimmer, reflection and texture. The canvas is scattered with regular horizontal lines and with non semiotic closed figures whose role is to diffuse the viewer's attention into the entire surface. Like for Rothko, the best works by Gaitonde can hardly be understood by the inspection of a photograph.
This late work entirely made of light and texture anticipates by over ten years the quest of the younger monochromists like Tauba Auerbach or Rudolf Stingel.
Gaitonde is a Zen artist who favors meditation and works slowly. The rarity of his art, just over five paintings a year, has probably slowed the spread of his reputation.
On December 15 in Mumbai, Christie's sells an oil on canvas 140 x 102 cm, lot 25 estimated Rs 12 crore equivalent to US $ 1.8M. This painting is dated 1995. Gaitonde was 71 years old, and this picture is typical of the magnificent culmination of his research.
The color between ochre and gold has become almost monochrome. It plays with light by the effects of glimmer, reflection and texture. The canvas is scattered with regular horizontal lines and with non semiotic closed figures whose role is to diffuse the viewer's attention into the entire surface. Like for Rothko, the best works by Gaitonde can hardly be understood by the inspection of a photograph.
This late work entirely made of light and texture anticipates by over ten years the quest of the younger monochromists like Tauba Auerbach or Rudolf Stingel.