Four Figures, a painting by Pakistani artist Sadequain, was the star lot of Bonhams' Islamic and Indian Art sale in London on October 8 when it sold for £56,250 ($89,834).
Sadequain (1930-1987) was popular painter, who infused traditional Islamic calligraphy with the influence of Cubism and Surrealism - a style that he is credited with popularising across Asia.
 The painting dates to 1967 |
Untitled, another of his paintings, sold for £43,750 ($69,871). The work dates from the 1960s Sun Series, which feature a red sun surrounded by black tendrils of light.
A set of seven botanical drawings of fruit plants dating to 1827 achieved £32,500.
Commissioned by Dr William Roxburgh (1751-1815), head of the East India Company's botanical gardens at Samalkot, the works were produced by local artists.
 Botanic gardens were established across India in the late 18th century |
Over two thousand were made, and are now bound in a series of thirty five volumes - known as the Roxburgh Icones at the Samalkot Herbarium.
Musicians and Dancers by Jamini Roy (1887-1972) was another highlight, achieving £25,000 ($39,929). Roy was a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, described by many as the father of modern Indian art.
The traditional painting of Bengal heavily influenced his work, and was a reaction against the Western style that he had been taught while studying at the Government School of Art in Calcutta in the early 1900s.
Indian art has shown strong results in recent months, with Abanindranath Tagore's Siva Simantini achieving $555,750 at Christie's New York on September 17.
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