Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces and Museum Quality Series | October 2004

THE MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY SERIES 197 5 India: the Passionate Detachment Auctions of Indian Modern and Contemporary Art & Books Mumbai: Osian’s February 2001/ OS 001 11” x 8.25” / Paperback; 240pp & 307 illustrations OUT OF PRINT 6 India: A Historical Lila Auctions of Indian Modern and Contemporary Paintings, Drawings and Graphic Art Mumbai: Osian’s October 2001/ OS 002 11” x 8.25” / Paperback; 200pp & 226 colour illustrations 7 A Historical Mela: The ABC of India The Art Book & Cinema Mumbai: Osian’s March 2002 / OS 003 11” x 8.25” / Paperback; 320pp & 502 colour illustrations Osian’s inaugural curated auction by Tuli; it demonstrated that high quality works by established artists and those with clear historical significance will achieve good prices. A greater discrimination amid the buying public was evident. This auction also represented for the first time, the work of India’s only Authentication Department for Indian Modern Art in weeding out fakes of old masters. Interest in the subject by International Museums was also detected during this sale. Osian’s successfully introduced several artists into the international arena for the first time: B.K. Ganguly, S.C. Ghosh, R.N. Chakravorty, Baburao Painter, P.K. Pal, Haku Shah, D. Venkatapathy, M. Senathipathi, M. Suriyamoorthy, among others. By auctioning works of an aesthetic sensibility removed from the mainstream tastes, collectors were prompted to once again re-question their aesthetic preconceptions. The catalogue once again set new standards in documentation and design. OUT OF PRINT Here, for the first time, Tuli presented rare art works from Hindi Cinema, within their historical context, on the same platform as works of modern & contemporary fine art and rare books, in an unique effort to re-examine the aesthetics of popular Indian cinema. To have transformed these neglected art forms and provide them artistic respect and serious economic attention was the first step in establishing a credible infrastructure for the film publicity materials & memorabilia. OUT OF PRINT