MUMBAI.- Saffronart, the world’s largest online fine-art auction house, will showcase a significant selection of works on paper by 22 Modern Masters at its next 24-Hour Auction. The selection includes works by leading Indian artists Tyeb Mehta, V.S. Gaitonde, F.N. Souza, Nasreen Mohamedi, Arpita Singh, Jogen Chowdhury and more. The auction, which begins on July 20, 2011 at 8.00 pm (IST), will take place online at www.saffronart.com.

The aesthetic quality of the lots in this auction, coupled with their competitive estimates, offers young collectors a unique opportunity to acquire their first significant modern Indian artwork, and established collectors a chance to enhance their holdings with a range of works on paper by leading modernists, including an important selection of drawings by founder members of the seminal Progressive Artists’ Group F.N. Souza, M.F. Husain and H.A. Gade. The catalogue also features significant works from the oeuvres of respected associates of the group like Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, V.S. Gaitonde and Krishen Khanna, and other well-known modern artists like Nasreen Mohamedi, Ganesh Pyne, Jagdish Swaminathan, Arpita Singh, Bhupen Khakhar and Jogen Chowdhury.

A collection of lots on offer in this auction by F.N. Souza, dating from the 1950s to the 1980s, includes drawings in pencil, pastel and ink, chemical alterations on printed magazine paper, watercolours and mixed-media works, illuminating the artist’s mastery over medium and the diversity of his body of work. Also included in the catalogue is a 1962 painting by V.S. Gaitonde, underlining the artist’s almost ascetic practice, and an untitled 1993 charcoal drawing of a falling figure by Tyeb Mehta. Amongst the lots by Akbar Padamsee are two rare mixed-media portraits from the 1950s, reminiscent of his early, highly sought after ‘Prophet’ series of paintings. Other highlights include an early charcoal rendering of Banaras by Ram Kumar, a study for Krishen Khanna’s seminal painting ‘The Game II’, and two meticulous pencil drawings by Nasreen Mohamedi.

Through its transparent online auction platform, Saffronart has made modern and contemporary Indian art accessible to a broad base of collectors around the globe. In 2009, Saffronart became the first fine-art auction house globally to launch a mobile bidding application for the iPhone, Blackberry and other mobile devices. The application offers clients a new, convenient and secure bidding experience, and enables collectors to engage with Saffronart in more places and with fewer boundaries. Collectors may place bids at Saffronart’s website www.saffronart.com, or via Saffronart’s proprietary Blackberry and iPhone mobile applications.