The Hindu Business Line : Private collection of Tina & Anil Ambani set for Christie’s action

New Delhi, May 7 With the private collection of Tina and Anil Ambani, curated by Christie’s London, set to open in the first week of June at Christie’s new premises in South Kensington, Indian contemporary art seems to have come of age.

Besides showcasing the collection, the Ambani couple expects to mop-up a whopping £1,00,000 for their Harmony Art Foundation, which has a dozen works going under the hammer.

The private collection will be on public view for the first time and will showcase 32 works comprising a wide range of artists — from masters of the Progressive Artists Group era such as Maqbool Fida Hussain, Tyeb Mehta and Syed Haider Raza, to current leading names in contemporary art including Atul Dodiya, Jitish Kallat, T.V. Santhosh and Riyas Komu.

According to the Ambani couple, the collection “evolved naturally from a desire to seek beauty and creativity in myriad forms and promote emerging talent in India… We hope this evokes a greater interest in Indian art — its diversity and virtuosity.”

Coinciding with the exhibition, a dozen works will go under the hammer from Tina Ambani’s art foundation in association with Barclays Wealth. Ms Ambani created the foundation to provide a non-profit platform for emerging artists in the sub-continent. Several prominent artists started their careers here, including Jitish Kallat, Anju Dodiya and Atul Dodiya. The 12 works are led by Maqbool Fida Hussain’s Untitled (estimate: £12,000-18,000), and Francis Newton Souza’s Untitled, 1956 (estimate: £15,000-20,000).

And that’s not all. Christie’s will also have another 100 works from the leading 20th and 21st century artists from South Asia, including those from India and Pakistan. The auction list includes Francis Newton Souza’s Birth, 1955 (estimate: £6,00,000-8,00,000), and Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Figure on Rickshaw), 1984 (estimate: £3,00,000-5,00,000). The sale as a whole is expected to realise in excess of £3.7 million.

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