Nirav Modi (File photo)

NEW DELHI: Jewellery tycoon Nirav Modi might be disgraced but the taint doesn’t seem to extend his art. In a two-day auction, collectors vied to snap up his seized assets which included a record-breaking M F Husain painting, Hermes handbags, a Rolls Royce Ghost and diamond-studded watches.

The Husain painting titled ‘Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata 12’ was the centerpiece of the live auction conducted by Saffronart on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday. And it certainly lived up to its top billing, selling for Rs 13.4 crore and creating a new auction record for the artist. Another painting by Amrita Sher-Gil sold for even higher at Rs 15.6 crore.

Thursday’s live auction was preceded by an online auction. Both were described by Saffronart as “white glove sales”. In auction lingo, this means that all the items were sold. Not just sold, the two auctions raised a total of Rs 53.45 crore ($7.65 million) for the ED, crossing the pre-auction estimate of Rs 41 crore.

The diamantaire’s flashy lifestyle was evident in the objects on the block. Among the luxury collectibles was Modi’s Rolls-Royce Ghost which sold for Rs 1.68 crore. His wife Ami’s Porsche Panamera went for Rs 36 lakh. Besides his enviable art collection, Modi, currently fighting his extradition to India, also had a taste for expensive watches. Among the timepieces that went under the hammer was a Girard-Perregaux ‘Opera One’ Triple Bridge Tourbillon Wristwatch which sold for Rs 95 lakh – more than 30 times its estimate. A 18K yellow gold and diamond evening bag by Van Cleef and Arpels sold for four times its estimate at Rs 20.2 lakh.

Saffronart CEO and Co-Founder Dinesh Vazirani said the auction room was packed. “The frenzied bidding on watches, handbags and cars – most of which sold in multiples of their estimates – underscores the thriving market for luxury collectibles,” he said.

