South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Including Works from the Collection of Umesh and Sunanda Gaur

This spring, Christie’s auction of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Including Works from the Collection of Umesh and Sunanda Gaur will be held on 20 March during Asian Art Week in New York. Complemented by an online sale running from 13-27 March, this auction celebrates the wide variety of artistic practices and styles in South Asia and its diaspora during the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

We are honored to present a group of important modern works from the renowned collection of Umesh and Sunanda Gaur in this catalogue, including significant works by Francis Newton Souza, Sudhir Patwardhan and Nalini Malani. The Gaurs have devoted more than three decades to the patronage and promotion of South Asian Art in North America, building one of the finest and deepest collections over this period, and spearheading several museum exhibitions of works from this category across the continent from the early 2000s onward. 

2024 also marks Francis Newton Souza’s centenary, and we are honored to celebrate his legacy through a selection of masterpieces from almost every decade of his career, most of which are completely fresh to the market. Complementing these works are significant paintings by Sayed Haider Raza, Jehangir Sabavala, Maqbool Fida Husain, Sadanand Bakre, Ganesh Pyne, Manjit Bawa and Gulammohammed Sheikh. The catalogue also features works by pioneers of South Asian modernism Jamini Roy, Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Allah Bux and George Keyt, accompanied by important contemporary lots by Zarina, Nasreen Mohamedi, Sheila Makhijani and Salman Toor.

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