A painting by Bangladeshi art maestro Zainul Abedin, known as ‘Shilpacharya’, fetched a record $692,048 on September 26, the highest for any Bangladeshi artist.
The “Untitled” piece, gifted to Cedomil Plazek, sold for 516,000 GBP ($692,048 or Tk8.27 crore) at Sotheby’s “Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art” auction in New York. The ink and wash on paper, signed and dated ‘Zainul / 1970’, was executed in 1970.
Sotheby’s, founded in London nearly 300 years ago and now headquartered in New York, also sold another of Abedin’s works, “Untitled (Group of Figures)”, for 480,000 GBP ($643,690 or Tk7.69 crore). This oil on canvas, signed and dated ‘Zainul. 71’, was painted in 1971.
Cedomil Plazek, a hydrogeologist for the United Nations, befriended Abedin while working in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and received these paintings as gifts. Another painting, “Untitled (Figures)”, sold for 216,000 GBP ($289,663 or Tk3.46 crore), was ink and pencil on paper, signed and dated ‘Zainul / 25/5/70 / Jordan’.
Earlier this year, two of Abedin’s paintings set record prices: “Untitled (Couple)” sold for $381,000 (Tk4.16 crore) and another “Untitled” depicting a woman at rest sold for $279,400 (Tk3.05 crore). Both were from the Marker family collection.
In 2018, Christie’s auctioned another Abedin artwork from the Santal series for Tk1.5 crore.
