Saffronart’s Summer Online Auction, achieved a total sale value of INR 22.68 crores (USD 3.5 million). Works by Valay Shende, Atul Dodiya, Adeela Suleman, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Arunkumar H G, Senaka Senanayake, Surendran Nair and Dhananjay Singh saw enthusiastic bidding and exceeded their pre-sale estimates. 74% of the contemporary lots on offer were sold. The auction, which featured a selection of works by artists from the South Asian subcontinent, reflected Saffronart’s efforts at repositioning a market that has been seeing a slow revival.

Valay Shende’s Lot 92, Untitled, a sculpture of a buffalo made from welded metal discs, sold at INR 43 lakhs (USD 67,500) against an estimate of INR 30 – 35 lakhs (USD 46,875 – 54,690). The artist’s claim to fame is his highly successful public sculpture, Dabbawalla, at Haji Ali in Mumbai. Lot 75, Atul Dodiya’s Five Drips from Vesuvius, sold at 33.8 lakhs (USD 52,800) against a pre-sale estimate of INR 16 – 22.4 lakhs (USD 25,000 – 35,000). Dodiya’s painting incorporates text in a conceptual form, and is a tribute to Girish Dahiwale, an artist from Mumbai. Lot 64, a 1984 oil on canvas by Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake sold at INR 7.29 lakhs (USD 11,400), crossing its upper estimate of INR 6.4 lakhs (USD 10,000). Lots 66 and 69, installations by Pakistani artist Suleman and Bangladeshi artist Lipi, sold at INR 5.95/USD 9,300 (pre-sale estimate: INR 2.56 – 3.8 lakhs/ USD 4,000 – 6,000) and INR 5.37 lakhs/USD 8,400 (pre-sale estimate: INR 3.8 – 5.1 lakhs/USD 6,000 – 8,000) respectively.

Among the modernists, works by Ganesh Pyne, B Prabha, Sadanand Bakre and Thota Vaikuntam witnessed energetic bidding. The results show an unexpected interest in artists other than those who have typically led auctions, such as the Bombay Progressives, Prabha, Pyne, Bakre. The lots leading the sale consisted of F N Souza’s The Herald (lot 39) and Tyeb Mehta’s Falling Figure (lot 98)—sold at Rs 2 crores (USD 330,012) and 4.27 crores (USD 667,500) respectively. Both works come from important phases of the artists’ careers.

3000 years of the world’s fashion and style is brought together in the largest virtual exhibition project by Google Arts and Culture, the “We wear culture” project by Google is in collaboration with 183 renowned cultural institutions from around the world including India.The initiative is a collaboration with the Museum of Prato Textile, from New York to London, from Paris to Tokyo, from Sao Paulo to Florence. Using cutting edge technologies, the project allows you to explore styles and looks from different periods, starting from the ancient Silk Road, through sophisticated fashions of Versailles, until the British punk or stories that are the basis of the clothes we wear today. Iconic pieces that have changed the way of dressing of generations, such as high heels Marilyn Monroe or Chanel black dress, are brought back to life thanks to the technology VR (virtual reality).

Fashion experts, curators and designers as well as universities, museums and NGOs from all over the world have worked on the project to demonstrate that fashion is part of our culture, it is a form of art and is the result of a true craftsmanship. Google’s cutting-edge technologies, including virtual reality, the 360 ° video, the tour with Street View and “gigapixel” images with very high resolution, have been used to preserve the collections and make them available to all.

The stories of four iconic pieces that changed fashion history are brought to life through videos in VR.
_ The Chanel black dress from Paris, France (1925), which has radically changed the black garment dress code, making it a unique piece in the wardrobe of every woman.
_ The stiletto Marilyn Monroe Ferragamo of Florence in Italy (1950-60), the stiletto heels that have become scarlet expression of legitimacy, success and sensuality for women.
_ Shirt and skirt inspired by the kimono Comme des Garcons from Kyoto, Japan (1983), which shows how Rei Kawakubo has led the aesthetics and craftsmanship of traditional and contemporary Japanese kimono on the world stage through radical models.
_ The corset Vivienne Westwood in London, UK (1990), which celebrates the unique interpretation of the designer of one of the most controversial garments of history, bringing together the worlds of art and fashion worlds.