Record Breaking M.F. Husain Work Leads Christie's $24.9m 'South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art' Auction in New York

A work by M.F. Husain was the headline sale at Christie's 'South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art' auction on March 19 in New York.

• The sale totaled $24.86m, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 77 works sold totaling $24.86m.
• Estimates totaled: $7.74m (low) and $11.15m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 95% of the original 81 lots announced.

The star lot was: M.F. Husain, Untitled (Gram Yatra) (1954), which sold for $13.75m, 450% above its $2.5m low estimate. The sale set a new auction record for the artist and for Modern Indian art. It has been traded twice in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1109% above its low estimate. Abanindranath Tagore, Untitled (A Moonlight Music Party) (Undated), sold for $30,200 ($2,500 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 68 works, or 88%, sold above their high estimate.
• 8 works, or 10%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 1 works, or 1%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

4 works were bought-in, including: Sayed Haider Raza, Soir à Espinouse (1961), estimated at $1.2m (low) to $1.8m (high). It has been traded 4 times in the past.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.