Christie’s is bringing a tightly curated preview of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art to Mumbai from 5 to 9 August 2026, giving collectors and the public a first look at highlights from its forthcoming New York auction on 16 September. The presentation arrives on the back of a strong season for Christie’s South Asian sales, and it places India’s modern masters back in the spotlight through a selection of rare works that have largely stayed off the market for decades.
The Mumbai preview will include 16 works by artists such as Francis Newton Souza, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Ram Kumar and Jehangir Sabavala. For a category often shaped by circulation, visibility and provenance, the rarity of these works is part of the draw: many are appearing at auction for the first time, while others have not been seen publicly for years. That makes the preview less like a standard display and more like a reminder of how deeply these artists continue to anchor the market and the historical imagination around South Asian modernism.
Among the highlights is Francis Newton Souza’s Building in Trafalgar Square (1955), estimated at $600,000 to $800,000. The work signals the breadth of the sale, where familiar names are presented through a range of periods, subjects and stylistic approaches. Christie’s framing also underscores the continuing international appetite for South Asian art, especially when works carry strong artistic lineage and long absence from public view.
The Mumbai presentation is paired with Christie’s London exhibition, The Meeting Ground – Scenes from the KNMA Collection, on view until 21 August 2026. Together, the two exhibitions create a transnational moment for South Asian art, moving between the auction market and museum-style presentation while reinforcing Christie’s wider positioning of the field as both commercially active and institutionally significant.
For readers and collectors in Mumbai, the preview offers a focused opportunity to see important works ahead of auction season, without needing to travel to New York. The public exhibition will be open daily from 10 am to 6 pm, except on 9 August, when viewing is by appointment only.
Christie’s Mumbai Summer Preview: South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art
Dates: 5 to 9 August 2026
Venue: Mumbai
Viewing hours: 10 am to 6 pm, except 9 August by appointment only
cover image: Francis Newton Souza, Building in Trafalgar Square | 1955 Image Credit: Christie’s
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