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Francis Newton Souza Painting Sets a Record
13-Jun-2008
Written by: Marshall Burns
A Francis Newton Souza painting set a record at an auction house of selling for over $2 million.
A painting by the late Indian painter, Francis Newton Souza, set a record for an Indian work of art. The work, “Birth,” sold at an auction of South Asian art at Christie’s earlier this week for $2,519,762. This is a new “world auction record for the artist and any Indian modern art and contemporary work of art,” reported a Christie’s official to the BBC.
He is the only Indian artist to have a room dedicated to his works at Tate Britain. The painting had been part of a private collection in the United States.
The artist founded a group of influential Indian artists, called the Progressive Artists Group, which encouraged new forms of art. In 1947 in Mumbai, the group had members such as SH Raza, MF Husain, SK Bakre, Akbar Padamsee, and Tyeb Mehta. Art critic Madhu Jain told the BBC that Souza’s works have always fetched high auction prices. “He was controversial and ahead of his times. He was one of the most significant Indian artists,” she told the BBC.
A statement from Christie's said that Wednesday’s auction of the works from 50 of south Asia’s contemporary and modern artists fetched over £5,000,000 and that 12 artists’ records were set at the auction.
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