NY Auction to Benefit National Art Museum

If you are interested in helping support a national art museum—the first of its kind in India—then circle your calendar for Tuesday, July 17th. That’s the day Sotheby’s New York will be holding an auction of approximately 95 lots to raise money for the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA). The sale will be the first time that over 70 artists, various galleries, private individuals and an international auction house have come together to support such a project.

The objectives of KMOMA are to collect, preserve and exhibit national and international works from the 18th century to contemporary art, and is a joint venture between the government of West Bengal and the private sector. Spread over 10 acres in Rajarhat, Kolkata, the national museum will have four major sections: National Galleries, Western Galleries, Far Eastern Galleries and a large academic wing to promote research, conservation and curatorial practices. It will primarily house works of visual art, along with photography, cinema, design and architecture.

Important works up for bid at the July sale include paintings, sculptures and photographs by Indian art notables as Tyeb Mehta, Jehangir Sabavala, Somnath Hore, Sakti Burman, Ram Kumar, F.N Souza, Akbar Padamsee, Jogen Chowdhury, Ganesh Pyne, Arpita Singh, Rameshwar Broota, Paresh Maity, Subodh Gupta, Chintan Upadhyay, Baiju Parthan and Dayanita Singh, among others.

Go to Sotheby’s website to browse the auction catalogue and become a part of this historical event.