A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!
Estimates for world’s only Carvaggio mural hit $547 million
Caravaggio, “Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto,” c. 1597-1600 (Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons) | Via My Modern Met
Within the Villa Aurora in Rome, the last surviving remnant of the grander 16th-century Villa Ludovisi estate, is the only ceiling mural ever made by Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio. The ambitious painting — Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto — features three Roman gods and their symbolic animals: an eagle for Jupiter, a hippocamp for Neptune, and Cerberus, the three-headed dog, for Pluto. Now, the 32,000-square-foot home is going up for auction in January 2022, at a starting price of roughly $547 million. However, since the building is protected by Italy\’s ministry of culture, the Italian government will have the opportunity to match the highest bid and purchase it on behalf of the country. My Modern Met tells you more.
65 Indian artists head to Italy for groundbreaking exhibition
Photographer Sheba Chhachhi’s ‘Robes’, moving image lightbox, from the ‘Winged Pilgrims: A Chronicle from Asia’ series, will be among the works on display at the Hub India exhibition. | Photo Credit: Courtesy: Engendered | Via The Hindu
A major project featuring more than 65 Indian artists is all set to open in Turin, Italy, in the coming days. The Hub India exhibition seems signal the relaunch of public and overseas engagements for art, and is curated by Myna Mukherjee and Davide Quadrio in collaboration with Turin’s annual contemporary art fair, Artissima. Their process included gathering works from a selection of several galleries and from the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art to put together a careful list that’s a little different from the usual set of names. The curatorial team has been at work for over two years during the lockdown, on Zoom and social media, to cull out a collection that represents India’s ‘glocal’ resonance. The Hindu has all the details.
‘Works by Indian artists are fetching hefty prices’
‘An Inmate of the Harem’ by Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury. Photo courtesy: John Elliott/Riding the Elephant | Via The Wire
South Asian modern art auctions have maintained a strong trend set last year during the early stages of the pandemic — with sales in the autumn round seeing excellent buoyancy. Of the over $30 million sold in this round, the circuit saw two Sotheby’s London auctions totaling £ 8.4m ($11.6m), Mumbai-based Saffronart with two totalling $8.6m and Christie’s in New York at $7.8m. The works of prolific artists like Jehangir Sabavala, Bhupen Khakhar, F.N. Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury, SH Raza and MF Husain shone bright — and many exceeded their sensitively moderate estimates. The Wire brings you a blog post from Riding the Elephant by John Elliott.
Hürrem Sultan’s likeness garners $173,000 in London
An oil portrait of Hürrem Sultan from the“Arts of the Islamic World & India” auction, Sotheby’s, London, Britain, Oct. 27, 2021. (AA Photo) | Via Daily Sabah
Hürrem Sultan is known as one of the most unconventional female figures of power in the Ottoman regime of yore, and happened to be a wife of the legendary Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Now, a rare painting of Roxelana, as she is known in the West, has been sold for 126,000 pounds ($173,000) last week at a Sotheby\’s auction in London, titled ‘Arts of the Islamic World & India’. The oil painting is from the late 16th-early 17th century and celebrates the queen who broke plenty of conventions and helped in the running of a vast empire. Daily Sabah narrates.
