Souza work fetches record price £1,273,250!!!

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A work of art by Indian artist Francis Newton Souza, "Birth", has fetched a world auction record price of £1,273,250 at the Christie's here. “Amongst the masterpieces offered, Francis Newton Souza's Birth (1955) realised £1,273,250, setting a new world auction record for the artist and for any Indian Modern and Contemporary work of art,” Mr Hugo Weihe, Christie's international director of Asian art and Ms Yamini Mehta, head of sale said yesterday.

(You can see the painting in the backdrop at the auction house)

The 1955 work beat the auction house's high presale estimate of 800,000 pounds in a sale of South Asian art that tallied 5.4 million pounds, Christie's said in a release. A dozen of the 111 lots offered set artist records, including works by Tyeb Mehta and Subodh Gupta.

“Today's exceptional sale which realised £5,432,050, presented Christie's global clients with an inspiring array of works by over 50 of South Asia's leading modern and contemporary artists,” it house said in a joint statement. Twelve artists' records were set in total, reflecting the continuing strength and depth of demand for this important and vibrant category.

“We are pleased that the works from the Harmony Art Foundation in association with Barclays Wealth were well received, setting three world auction records, led by Navjot Altaf's December 15th, which realised £22,500.”

This sale draws Christie's Asian art sales for the first half of 2008 to an exhilarating conclusion, realising an overall total for New York, Hong Kong and London of £13,198,396 ~ the highest ever total achieved for one season in South Asian Modern plus Contemporary Art.

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