By IANS,
London : An untitled 2003 sculpture by Anish Kapoor sold for 1,945,250 pounds ($3.87 million) after being hotly contested by three bidders on the telephone at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art here. This price represents a new auction record for the Mumbai-born artist.
The stunning piece, which soared above its pre-sale estimate of 1-1.5 million pounds, embodies the pioneering manipulation of space and material that characterises the very best output of this world-renowned sculptor. The untitled sculpture is one of the largest of Kapoor’s alabaster works and the first double-concave piece to come to auction.
Two other significant prices were achieved at Tuesday’s auction – for Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher.
Gupta’s 2005 untitled work soared above its pre-sale estimate of 200,000-300,000 pounds, selling for 601,250 pounds. The canvas, depicting a vessel stall glistening in the pink dawn of sunrise, is one of Gupta’s most important and powerful photo-realist paintings to ever come to the market.
It was Kher’s first appearance at a Sotheby’s evening sale of contemporary art and her sculpture “Misdemeanours”, executed in fibreglass, wood and fur, attracted six bidders and realised 75,650 pounds against an estimate of 40,000-60,000 pounds.