S.H. Raza’s ‘Gestation’ Becomes the Most Expensive Indian Artwork Ever Sold at Auction
Sayed Haider Raza’s painting “Gestation” shattered all records, fetching a whopping ₹ 51.75 crore at a Mumbai auction. It became the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold at an auction.
Even seven years after his passing, renowned Indian painter Sayed Haider Raza set a new record. On Thursday, August 31, ‘Gestation’, a painting created by him in 1989, was sold for ₹ 51.75 crore at an auction held by Pundole’s in Mumbai, making it the most costly Indian artwork ever sold. Following the Raza retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from February 15 to May 15 this year, the first exhibition of Raza’s work in France, this event comes as a close second.
Born in 1922 in Madhya Pradesh, Raza was the son of a forest ranger. According to Dinesh Vaziranico, the founder of Saffronart, “The 80s was one of the most important decades of Raza’s oeuvre, and Gestation is an exceptional example of his geometrical works from the period. He focused on earth tones, which resonated with the forests of his birthplace in Madhya Pradesh.”
Later Raza went on to study at the prestigious Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai. He believed that Indian painting needed to progress in order to keep up with European trends, and in 1947, co-founded the Progressive Artists’ Group in Mumbai with fellow artists Francis Newton Souza, Krishnaji Howlajj Ara, and Maqbool Fida Husain.
Before his death in 2016, Raza received many awards including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. He also had been awarded the French Legion of Honour.
The sale of ‘Gestation’ at this price showcases a thriving and more mature Indian art market that can now recognise the significance of the high-quality artworks. Ashvin Rajagopalan, the director of Mumbai’s Piramal Art Foundation mentioned, “There’s been a big push in 2022-23, supported by several exhibitions, celebrating 100 years of Raza. This included shows at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and Piramal Museum of Art, and earlier this year, the Centre Pompidou hosted the first solo of Raza in Paris. All this gave global visibility, and global collectors are now buying Raza. That’s why there’s been a major impact.” Rajagopalan further believes that this quarter has the potential to generate the highest value in the history of Indian art and instead of being surprised by the amount of money coming in it should be viewed as a small effort to encourage art in India.
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