Jehangir Sabavala work sells for Rs. 2.16 crores in London

New Delhi: Vespers I, by modern Indian artist Jehangir Sabavala has sold for more than 250,000 pounds by auctioneers Bonhams at their annual summer sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian art in London.

Bonhams says this is highest-ever a Sabavala painting has gone for.

A press release says the work had "been estimated to sell for £100,000-150,000, but after a saleroom tussle between two buyers in the room, was knocked down for £253,650."

The image was first exhibited at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay and then at his solo exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute, London.

Illustrated on the cover of his monograph by Ranjit Hoskote, 'The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala, Vespers I' is one of Sabavala's most important works, representing a key period of transition in the artist's oeuvre.

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"Sabavala had a lifelong fascination with monastic life, and the figures of the monk and the hermit are central to his work. Indeed, he often compared his long, solitary and disciplined hours of work in the studio with a monk's routine of study, prayer, retreat and meditation," says Ranjit Hoskote, an independent curator who was responsible for the Indian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2011.

Mehreeen Rizvi, Head of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art at Bonhams commenting after the sale, said "We are delighted with this result for Sabavala. It is about time this artist achieved commercial success in the art market to mirror his artistic reputation".

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(With PTI inputs)