Depicting a family of cheetahs in a rocky landscape in opaque pigments heightened with gold, a 1575-80 Mughal miniature attributed to Emperor Akbar’s master artist Basawan – known for his innovative contribution to art – fetched a staggering £10,245,000 (approximately INR 119 Crore), setting an auction record price for a classical Indian or Islamic painting. It is also close to the most expensive Indian painting – MF Husain’s 1954 Untitled (Gram Yatra) – that was sold in March at a Christie’s auction in New York for $13.75 million.
The sale at the Christie’s auction in London, on October 28, formed part of the “Exceptional Paintings from The Personal Collection of Prince & Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan”. Collected over a period of 45 years, the paintings, drawings and manuscripts, dating from the 14th century, once belonged to Prince Sadruddin and Princess Catherine Aga Khan. A philanthropist and United Nations diplomat, Sadruddin was the son of Sultan Muhammed Shah, Aga Khan III. As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, he led a mission to India in 1971 to address the refugee situation during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Comprising 95 works, the sale reportedly featured paintings that Sadruddin and Catherine had at their home, Chateau de Bellerive, on the shores of Lake Geneva. These include works of masters such as Dust Muhammad, Basawan, Ghulam Ali Khan and Reza Abbasi. It totalled £45,760,485, six times the pre-sale auction estimate, attracting registrants from 20 countries, across four continents.
In a pre-sale article on their website, Edward Wilkinson, Christie’s global head of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, had noted, “It would be impossible to form such a collection today… Prince Sadruddin began acquiring these works in the 1960s, when fine examples of Indian and Islamic art were still easily available on the market.”
Rahul Kadakia, President of Christie’s Asia Pacific and Chairman of the Global Luxury Group, selling A Family of Cheetahs in a Rocky Landscape, attributed to Basawan for £10.2 million, a world auction record for a Mughal painting. (Photo: Christie’s)
The article also quoted author and historian William Dalrymple, stating, “It is hard not to be dazzled by these paintings… Anyone with an eye will fall in love with them.”
In a post-sale release, Sara Plumbly, Christie’s Head of Islamic and Indian Art, notes, “The results of the auction of Exceptional Paintings from The Personal Collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan illustrate the enduring appeal of works of art of this calibre with such notable provenance, many of which are regarded as ‘icons’ in the field of Indian and Persian painting… This is a landmark moment for the market for Indian and Islamic art…”
The collection included significant works of their kind and has been studied and published by leading scholars of the 20th century and featured in well-received shows.
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The record-breaking Basawan work, for instance, is considered one of the earliest natural history studies in Mughal art. The essay quotes historian Divyabanusinh: “This charming scene of a cheetah family in its natural habitat has been delicately executed by a master. It is the earliest known study of cheetahs in the wild in India.”
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