Christie's London to Auction South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art with New Focus on Pakistani Artists

Christie's London will hold its annual South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction on June 11, featuring 112 works valued from £1,500 to £18 million. The top lot is Tyeb Mehta's 'Mahishasura' (1996), estimated at £1.2-1.8 million, inspired by Hindu mythology and Picasso's Guernica. Other highlights include Maqbool Fida Husain's 'Cinq Sens' (1958), formerly owned by Roberto Rossellini and Sonali Dasgupta, estimated at £400,000-500,000, and Syed Haider Raza's 'Clocher du Village' (1958), estimated at £450,000-600,000. The auction introduces a focus on Pakistani artists, including Anwar Jalal Shemza (1928-1985), who exhibited at Tate's 'Migrations' in February, with his work 'Untitled (Black and white composition)' (1965) estimated at £2,000-3,000, and Khadim Ali's 'Untitled (Rustam Series)' (2011), estimated at £6,000-8,000, who participated in dOCUMENTA 2012. Contemporary names include Shezad Dawood, Rashid Rana, Bharti Kher, and the duo Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, who exhibited at Whitechapel Gallery in 2011.