LONDON, ENGLAND.-Bonhams, the international fine art auction house will help to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence with a fund raising auction in support of Tehelka, an iconic media house in India, and the country’s fastest-growing English weekly newspaper.

Art for Freedom will take place at Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street, London on 7 June, 6 pm onwards. The sale will feature work by both established Indian masters and a newer generation of cutting edge, emerging voices.

A unique aspect of the auction is the fact that many of the canvasses are a collaborative effort between top-line Indian artists and high-profile Indian and British personalities. The proceeds of the sale will go towards Tehelka.

The highlight of the evening will occur when two of India’s biggest cultural brands – the legendary artist, 92-year-old M F Husain and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan -- will paint on a blank canvas alongside each other. This painting will be sold as the paint dries at Bonhams to the highest bidder from among the art collectors, politicians, celebrities and industry magnates present at the auction.

Further collaborations include such diverse personalities as :

• Angeli Sowani (London-based abstract expressionist) and Arun Sarin (global telecom czar, the India-born CEO of Vodafone, man in the news)
• Paresh Maity (30 solo shows in 10 years) and Sir Gulam Noon, MBE (a British businessman of Indian origin, famed for popularising Indian cuisine)
• Farhan Mujib (eminent artist famous for his ornate paper collages)
and Naseeruddin Shah (one of India’s most esteemed actors)
• Prasenjit Sengupta (a cutting edge new artist known for his ghostly realism) and Dr Kartar Lalvani (one of UK’s most prominent NRIs, whose company, Vitabiotics sells some of Britain’s largest selling vitamin supplements)

The auction comes at an auspicious time for top Indian artists participating in the sale. Thanks to globalisation and changing artworld trends, the auction market for Indian art alone has spiralled from $52million in 2006 to its
current rate of $150 million annually. Bonhams’ recent public sales of Contemporary Indian and Pakistani Paintings are testament to this growth.