Kolkata Museum of Modern Art's mega art project includes Research in Art

Kolkata, India - Kolkata will now have its own modern art museum. Auction giant Sotheby's will hold a benefit sale in New York to support the mega art project. The auction for the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA) will be held July 17. On sale will be modern and contemporary Indian art works. Important works including paintings, sculptures and photographs by Tyeb Mehta, Jehangir Sabavala, Somnath Hore, Sakti Burman, Ram Kumar, F.N Souza, Akbar Padamsee, Jogen Chowdhury, Ganesh Pyne, Arpita Singh, Rameshwar Broota, Paresh Maity, Subodh Gupta, Chintan Upadhyay, Baiju Parthan and Dayanita Singh among others will be part of the auction highlights.

The offering of around 95 lots is estimated to bring in between Rs.100 million and Rs.140 million. This is the first time that over 70 artists, various galleries, private individuals and an international auction house have come together to support a national art museum in India.

KMOMA, a joint venture between the government of West Bengal and the private sector, will primarily house works of visual art, along with photography, cinema, design and architecture. The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve and exhibit national and international works of fine art from the 18th century to contemporary art.

To be designed by an international architect, KMOMA will have four major sections: National Galleries, Western Galleries, Far Eastern Galleries and a large academic wing to promote research, conservation and curatorial practices. Spread over 10 acres in Rajarhat, Kolkata, the Rs.5 billion project is the first of its kind in India.

Artist Jogen Chowdhury is part of the panel that includes industrialists as well as an exclusive panel of patrons with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee being the chief patron.

Source: Art Knowledge News