Craft of the Matter

Come November 27 and the works of traditional craftsmen will go under the hammer along with paintings of Amrita Sher-Gil and SH Raza.

Thanks to the meltdown, traditional craft finds a place next to modern art at Osian’s auction

Come November 27 and the works of traditional craftsmen will go under the hammer along with paintings of Amrita Sher-Gil and SH Raza. The upcoming Osian’s auction in Mumbai, which is focussing on crafts when art auctions are taking a beating due to the looming recession, will familiarise art lovers with names like Laxmanan, Jaidev Baghel, Moti Karn and Kalyan Joshi of the Paramparik Karigar.

“This auction will be a step towards promoting the traditions of India and creating a conducive environment for craftsmen. In times of recession, it helps to diversify one’s portfolio,” says Neville Tuli, chairman of Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art. It will be a step forward for Paramparik Karigar, a well-known organisation formed by craftsmen to promote the traditional crafts of India. There will be a selection of its works, including bronze pieces, stone carvings, Patachitra and palm-leaf etchings from Orissa, Gond paintings from Madhya Pradesh, Warli paintings from Maharashtra, Phad from Rajasthan and Patuas from Bengal. One of the Phad paintings bagged the National Merit Award by the Development Commissioner of Handicrafts in 2006.

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Osian’s has also dedicated a section to fine arts that have been inspired by folk and craft traditions, by including works of Jamini Roy, J Sultan Ali,

K Laxma Goud, K G Subramanyan,

S Nandagopal and PV Janakiram. The auction comprises 159 lots and is valued, at a low estimate, at around Rs 31 crore. It also includes rare works by Rabindranath Tagore, MF Husain, VS Gaitonde, Sadequain, Ganesh Pyne and Akbar Padamsee.

As part of the fine arts section, select works from The Camlin Collection, such as a rare impasto-driven painting by Husain, dated 1970, and other works such as Village Scene (1974) by N S Bendre and The Pond (1995) by Bikash Bhattacharjee have been included. “Even in today’s financial situation, there is always demand for rare and historically significant works,” says Neeti Mallick, vice-president, Auction House of Osian’s.