Two Kangra miniature paintings fetch Rs 31 cr at Mumbai auction

Two Guler miniature paintings, one by legendary 18th century Kangra artist Nainsukh and the other by an unknown descendant, fetched a record Rs 31 crore at a recent auction in Mumbai.

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Dating back to 1750, Nainsukh’s masterpiece was sold for Rs 15 crore and it portrays Raja Balwant Dev hosting a musical soiree. The second artwork was created around 1775. It depicts a verse by the 12th century Sanskrit poet Jayadeva, showing Lord Krishna dancing with gopis in a lush green Vrindavan grove.

Padma Shri awardee Vijay Sharma, a renowned Pahari miniature artist, told The Tribune that the unknown artist’s work fetching Rs 16 crore at the sale by Pundole’s, a leading auction house based in Mumbai, surprised the art world.

Several rare Pahari paintings went under the hammer at the live auction held at Hamilton House. “Pahari paintings fetched a record price and attracted the attention of collectors and art lovers alike. Hardly has any Pahari painting gone for this high price in the past,” he said.

The auction featured a private collection by the late NC Mehta, an Indian Civil Service officer and the first Chief Commissioner of Himachal Pradesh in the 1950s. An avid art lover, Mehta amassed a rich collection of paintings of the Chamba, Kangra and Mandi schools of art during his tenure. After Mehta’s death, his wife donated a part of his collection to Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum in Ahmedabad. “The treasure of paintings Mehta’s family held back was auctioned at Pundole’s,” said Sharma. He said evaluating the paintings was a complicated task, depending on rarity of the artwork and fame of the artist. “A few years ago, Britain declared a Nainsukh painting portraying musicians playing trumpet as a rare piece and banned its sale or export,” he said.

Pahari paintings gained fame in the 1990s when Rietberg Museum, Zurich, organised the “Pahari Masters” exhibition and scholars like BN Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer published books on top artists in the field.

A painting themed on Rasamanjari, a 17th century collection of poems, was sold at Sotheby’s auction in London for about Rs 74 lakh. Within some time, a painting of Devi and the sage Chyavan in Basohli style was bought by Washington’s Freer Gallery of Art for Rs 1 crore. A Mandi-style painting depicting Lord Krishna taming the serpent ‘Kaliya’ fetched Rs 6 crore.