Bhanu Athaiya was India’s very first Oscar winner who brought home the award in 1983 for costume design in Richard Attenborough’s much acclaimed ‘Gandhi’. And now a rare painting of her, by modernist artist Vasudeo S Gaitonde, will go under the hammer at Saffronart’s Modern Indian Art sale on February 16 in Mumbai. The painting, which immortalises Athaiya, Gaitonde’s student at the J J School of Art, was later acquired by fellow modernist Krishen Khanna and is estimated at Rs 2 3 crore. The sale includes major artworks by the likes of Tyeb Mehta, Ram Kumar, MF Husain, SH Raza, to name a few. Highlights include Tyeb Mehta’s Falling Figure made in 1965, Ram Kumar’s untitled painting made in 1961, SH Raza’s Bombay from Malabar Hill made in 1948, among others.
