The total sale at the auction of Indian and Southeast Asian Art, which included paintings and works of art, on March 18 was USD 3,212,501 (Rs 16.12 crore).

F N Souza's untitled oil work depicting the twin themes of sex and religion brought USD 302,500 while another untitled oil work of a nude woman by Akbar Padamsee's went under the hammer for USD 242,500.

The auction also saw the sale of many other works of Husain and Souza besides those of Tyeb Mehta, S H Raza and Ram Kumar among others.

“Our strategy for this sale was to put together a tightly edited group of the finest works available, sagely estimated, and we were delighted to see the market respond so positively,” said Zara Porter Hill, director, head of Sotheby's Indian & Southeast Asian department.