At a recent Saffronart online auction, an untitled canvas of the late Manjit Bawa sold for a record breaking Rs1.7crores, sending ripples of cheer in the Indian Art market which had been seeing a slump in the recent economic season. An auction house spokesperson disclosed that the presale estimate was at Rs90lakhs. Reportedly, in his canvass of epic proportions Bawa relies on chiaroscuro and subtle shading to deliver depth. His technique of focusing on perfecting the form by paring it down to its basic essence gives his paintings an arresting luminosity. Other Indian modernists like F N Souza, S H Raza, Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta and Jagdish Swaminathan too fetched top prices.