Wednesday, June 1 2005 13:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: A modern artwork by an Indian artist has fetched a world record price of 145,600 Pounds at a saleroom of Bonhams, a leading departmental store in London, it was officially stated yesterday (May 31, 2005).

'The Tree, the Bird, the Shadow,' by Jagdish Swaminathan (India 1928-1993) fetched the record price against a pre-auction estimate of 40,000 Pounds to 60,000 Pounds, according to Bonhams, located at Bond street in London.

'Horses and Nudes' By India's M F Hussain was sold for 89,600 Pounds - against an estimate of about 50,000 to 70,000 Pounds.

The third most valuable sale was again by an Indian, Francis Newton Souza.

His 'Red Portrait' was sold at 74,400 Pounds as against an estimated sale price of 25,000 to 35,000 Pounds.

The sale reinforces the mood of Bonhams' Indian and Islamic auction last October, which made record prices for a number of artists, boosting confidence in this market segment significantly, a spokesman of Bonhams said.

Suddenly art from the sub-continent and the Middle East is hot property.

Equally encouraging was the fact that more traditional Islamic art also did well, said Claire Penhallurick, Head of Indian and Islamic Art at Bonhams.

"But what really created the buzz was the modern paintings. It is as if a whole new generation of artists and a new western influenced art is at last beginning to find a proper market worldwide. Buyers for these paintings were a mix of home buyers and western buyers."