Saffronart launches Editions; A 24 Hour auction of limited edition prints and photographs

Online fine-art auction house Saffronart presents "Editions', third in a series of new 24-hour online auctions. This auction features 70 lots, including significant signed limited edition prints and photographs by Tyeb Mehta, V.S. Gaitonde, Zarina Hashmi, A. Balasubramaniam, Surendran Nair, Subodh Gupta and others. The total lower and higher estimates of this auction are 76.4 Lakh (US$ 175,830) and Rs. 1.07 Crore (US$ 231,660). The auction will begin on May 18, 2011 at 8:00 pm (IST) and will take place online at www.saffronart.com.

The "Editions' 24-hour auction catalogue features a wide range of prints and photographs, offering collectors and enthusiasts, particularly first-time buyers, a chance to acquire artworks by well-known modern and contemporary Indian artists and photographers at attractive estimates, starting as low as Rs. 13,050 (US$ 300). The auction will be accompanied by online and mobile catalogues.

Printmaking, as we know it today, is an artistic method appreciated for its unique technical qualities and its immense visual vocabulary. Fine art printmaking is a process usually initiated in the creation of an image on a single original surface known as the matrix, which the artist manipulates using a variety of different materials and methods. These variations result in a range of markings, textures, colour effects and forms. In limited edition prints, the matrix is destroyed after the desired number of prints is taken. A 'limited edition' is formed when a set of editions are signed and numbered individually by the artist and the matrix is destroyed so no more editions may be made.

Saffronart launched its new 24-hour auction series in response to an increasing demand for quality works of Indian art. These condensed and thematic adaptations of Saffronart's more comprehensive annual seasonal auctions offer collectors and the trade more frequent avenues to access and sell art.

At Saffronart's last 24-hour auction "Words and Lines', held in April 2011, 83% of the 90 lots on offer were sold, of which 48% comfortably exceeded their upper estimates. This new format of auctions, with no print catalogue or preview events and a short burst of online-only marketing, highlights the comfort and confidence which collectors of fine art have in Saffronart's online platform. Collectors may place bids at Saffronart's website www.saffronart.com, or via Saffronart's proprietary Blackberry and iPhone mobile applications.