A painting by Bangladeshi art maestro, revered as 'Shilpacharya' Zainul Abedin, fetched a record price of $692,048 yesterday (26 September), the highest for any Bangladeshi artist.
At the end of the auction titled "Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art" organised by renowned auction house Sotheby's in New York, Abedin's painting "Untitled", which was a gift from the artist to Cedomil Plazek, was sold for 516,000 GBP, or $692,048, or around Tk8.27 crore.
As per the description, it is 'ink and wash on paper', signed and dated 'Zainul / 1970' and stamped lower right, and executed in 1970.
Sotheby's, which was founded in London close to 300 years ago but is now headquartered in New York, recently organised the auction where these paintings were auctioned at record prices.
Sotheby's auction results reveal another one of his paintings was also sold for record prices, "Untitled (Group of Figures)", also a gift from the artist to Cedomil Plazek. It was sold for 480,000 GBP, or $643,690, or around Tk7.69 crore.
It's oil on canvas, signed and dated 'Zainul. 71' lower right, and painted in 1971.
According to Sotheby's, Cedomil Plazek was a hydrogeologist and representative of Geotehnika Yugoslavia for the United Nations. He lived in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and for many years worked on the United Nations' groundwater resources development project. While in Bangladesh he befriended Zainul Abedin, who gifted him the current lot.
The third painting, "Untitled (Figures)" was sold for 216,000 GBP, or $289,663, or Tk3.46 crore.
It's an ink and pencil on paper, signed, dated and inscribed 'Zainul / 25/5/70 / Jordon .' lower right, and executed in 1970.
Earlier in March this year, two of his paintings set a record price, the highest on record for a Bangladeshi artist.
They were – "Untitled (Couple)," which depicts a Santal couple (Oil on canvas, 1963), sold for $381,000, or around Tk4.16 crore based on that day's USD to BDT exchange rate.
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The other painting, also "Untitled" depicts a woman at rest, wearing a sky-blue saree and scarlet bangles, created between 1956 and 1963 using oil paints on board. This painting sold for $279,400, equivalent to approximately Tk3.05 crore.
The first painting, which measures 102 cm in width and 135.5 cm in length, was initially estimated to be valued between $100,000-150,000, according to Sotheby's website. The second one, which measures 80.4 cm in length and 60.4 cm in breadth, was initially estimated to be valued between $80,000-120,000.
Both were from the Marker family collection, which Sotheby's website referred to as "Property from The Estate of His Excellency Jamsheed K Marker and Diana J Marker."
In early 2018, Christie's, the famous New York-based auction house, auctioned off another artwork by Zainul Abedin from the Santal series for Tk1.5 crore in Bangladeshi currency. Courtesy: TBS
