BySukant Deepak

December 19, 2021 (IANSlife) The Prinseps are set to host the Gobardhan Ash Live Auction, offering 35 rare works on paper from the family estate alongside 35 accompanying NFTs. The auction will be open for live bidding on January 14, 2022, at 7 pm, representing the first time an Indian auction house has entered the NFT space.

The Gobardhan Ash Auction re-creates the second exhibition of the Progressive Artists’ Group and Calcutta Group, 1950, in which Gobardhan Ash presented a series of gouache works alongside FN Souza, MF Husain, and S.H. Raza, amongst others. The bright and eclectic modern images painted by Ash for the exhibition, and now offered for auction, perfectly captured the milieu of the time, presenting modernist interpretations of everyday people or animals.

Ash’s art from the 1950s showcases his individuality alongside his characteristic technique and presents impeccable character studies, such as the painting, Mother and Son, 1948 (Lot 07 and 08, estimate INR 30,000–1,50,000). These experiments in art are what can be characterised as today’s avatars, that is, ‘primitive’ artworks depicting personality traits or graphical representations of a user, making them ideal for transformation into an NFT and continuing Ash’s artist experimentation into the 21st Century.

The auction will offer each of Ash’s physical works on paper, immediately followed by their accompanying digital versions offered as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) minted on the Ethereum blockchain.

All 35 of the works on paper carry an estimate of INR 30,000-150,000, and the NFTs are estimated at INR 1,000–25,000, offering accessible prices to newer collectors exploring the NFT market for the first time.

Key works include Tribhanga, 1950 and 2021, which depicts a common stance in traditional Indian art and popular Indian dance forms such as the Odissi; FA-HI-AN, 1948 and 2021, which depicts an avatar of a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled by foot from China to India to study Buddhist texts; and Mosgul, 1949 and 2021, which depicts a man lost in thought and was exhibited in the Joint Exhibition of the Calcutta Group and the Progressive Artists’ Group, 1950.

Speaking about the auction, Prinseps curator Indrajit Chatterjee notes, "Ash’s paintings struck me as bearing a resemblance to the crypto punk movement, but from seven decades earlier. We are delighted to be presenting what we see today as an avatar, painted in Ash’s unique and primitive watercolours more than seventy years ago. These works will also represent the first NFTs offered on the market by an Indian auction house. "

Following the Auction, Prinseps will host a no-reserve Nationalism Book Auction in January offering a collection of rare and mostly first-edition books ranging from the pre-independence to the post-independence era in India, written and signed by revolutionary leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and V.K. Krishna Menon.

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