In 2007, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Mother And Child (1964), offered in the Modern Indian Art: Summer Online Auction by Saffronart, which concluded on 07 June 2007 at Online, achieving a sale price of ₹35,65,000 ($87,743). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Introduction
Adi M. Davierwalla was a self-taught sculptor whose practice contributed significantly to the development of post-independence Indian sculpture. Trained as a metallurgist, Davierwalla brought technical knowledge and industrial materiality into his work, frequently using metals, wood, and modern alloys. Emerging in the 1950s and 1960s, his sculptures demonstrate a formal preoccupation with balance, tension, and minimal geometric arrangement. He avoided figurative representation in favor of symbolic abstraction, often drawing from Parsi cosmology, modern physics, and architecture. Rather than monumental public works, Davierwalla’s practice was largely studio-based, producing introspective forms that explored time, transience, and metaphysical structure. Though relatively underrepresented in institutional narratives during his lifetime, his oeuvre offers a critical intersection between science and art, matter and spirit. His contribution highlights a lesser-documented trajectory in Indian modernism of artists engaging material intelligence and abstraction outside dominant academic or nationalist frameworks.
- Zodiac sign
- Pisces
- Age
- 53
- Place of Birth
- Bombay, Maharashtra, India
- Place of Death
- Pune, Maharashtra, India
- State Country of Birth
- Maharashtra, India
- State Country of Death
- Maharashtra, India
- Self-taught Sculptor; learned under the guidance of late N.G. Pasare
Exhibitions
1950
- Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
1955
- Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
1956
- Mumbai, India
1958
- Mumbai, India
1960
- Mumbai, India
1962
- Mumbai, India
1963
- Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1964
- Mumbai, India
1965
- Mumbai, India
- National Exhibition, Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1966
- Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1969
- travelling exhibition of International Education, USA; Organized by the Coray Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
1971
- A. M. Davierwalla, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1975
- 3rd Triennale India, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
1976
- Retrospective
1979
1984
- National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
1985
- Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
- Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
Alkazi, Ebrahim (Editor). Art Heritage, 1978-1979 | Journal
1956
- Mumbai, India
1958
- Mumbai, India
1960
- Mumbai, India
1962
- Mumbai, India
1964
- Mumbai, India
1965
- Mumbai, India
1971
- A. M. Davierwalla, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1976
- Retrospective
1979
1984
- National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
1985
- Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
- Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
1988
- Art Heritage, New Delhi, India
1989
- Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
1991
- Collins Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
1993
- Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1994
- Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
Alkazi, Ebrahim (Editor). Art Heritage, 1978-1979 | Journal
1950
- Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
1955
- Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
1963
- Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1965
- National Exhibition, Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
1966
- Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1969
- travelling exhibition of International Education, USA; Organized by the Coray Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
1975
- 3rd Triennale India, Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
2008
- Expanding Horizons: Contemporary Indian Art, travelling Exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir, P.L. Despande Kala Academy Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
- Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati, India
- Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur, India
- Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad, India
- Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalay's, Solapur, India
- Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur, India
- PGSR Sabhagriha, SNDT, Pune
- Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik, India
2013
- Manifestations X: 75 Artists, 20th Century Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), New Delhi, India
30 Dec 2013 to 08 Mar 2014
2014
- Indian Abstracts, An Absence Of Form, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), New Delhi, India
11 Aug 2014 to 30 Sep 2014
- Indian Abstracts, An Absence Of Form, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), Mumbai, India
07 Dec 2014 to 05 Feb 2015
2015
15 Jan 2015 to 15 Feb 2015
- Constructs | Constructions, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, India
23 Apr 2015 to 29 Nov 2015
DAG (Organiser) and Kishore Singh (Curator). A Visual History of Indian Modern Art, 2015 | Group Exhibition Catalogue | 00883460
Chronicled Highlights 71964 – 2004
Adi M. Davierwalla — Bombay, Maharashtra, India.
In 2017, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Galaxy (1966), offered in the South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art by Christie's, which concluded on 13 September 2017 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹1,19,96,587.5 ($187,500). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
The figurative pieces already suggest an instinctive understanding of anatomical stylisation – of trying to separate the components of a human figure and then proceeding to emphasise their essential role through exaggeration, distortion and harmonious synchronisation. With experience, spurred on by trial and error, Davierwalla probed deeper along these lines and responded to the secret language of geometry, of gravitational pulls, or the dynamic counterpoint between mass and space.
In 2023, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Crystal and Gold: A Monument to a Memory (1968), offered in the The Fine Art Sale by Pundole, which concluded on 23 February 2023 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of ₹6,50,00,000 ($785,563.04). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
It is significant that, although completely self-trained, he did not follow the contemporary fashion of sculpting in plaster and preparing a mold for the final bronze product but took to carving directly in wood, stone and marble. This brought him face to face with the essential nature of a sculptor’s work, an exploration of form in solid material informed by an empathy with the character of the latter, an understanding of organic structure and the scope it offered for an interplay of mass (including socalled empty space), volume and line.
In 2015, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Couple (1972), offered in the The Fine Art Sale: Including Works from the Collection of Roshan Sabavala and Emanuel Schlesinger by Pundole, which concluded on 03 November 2015 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of ₹42,00,000 ($58,251.78). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
On 15 October 2004, A.M. Davierwalla made their debut in the Indian public auction market when Untitled was presented as Lot 57 in The Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series: Indian Contemporary Art – Books, Paintings & Sculpture, conducted by Osian's in New Delhi, India. This auction marked the artist's first recorded appearance in the public auction market, establishing the earliest chapter of their auction history.
Economics of Art
Record-high lots5
Public Auction Market (1987–2026) | Select Indicators
Annual Auction Sale Turnover
It aggregates all sales across global auction houses into yearly totals.
Analysis reflected in the chart:
The turnover graph highlights periods of strong growth, moments of market correction, and resilience during downturns. Peaks often align with landmark works coming to public auction, while troughs may indicate reduced supply or weaker demand. Over time, the curve illustrates the overall trajectory of Adi M. Davierwalla’s public auction market presence.
Average Sale Price Per Lot
It smooths out fluctuations caused by the quantity of works offered and focuses on the Average Sale Price level per artwork.
Analysis reflected in the chart:
Rising average sale prices indicate growing collector confidence and a stronger willingness to pay higher amounts per work. Assuming the mix of mediums remains relatively stable over time, the proportion of works on paper typically priced lower than works on canvas adds important context to understanding these market movements.
Square Inch Rate Trend
This allows fair comparisons between smaller works and larger canvases.
Analysis reflected in the chart:
The Square Inch Rate shown in the graph combines various medium types such as canvas, paper, board, and others. Historically, works on canvas and board have broadly commanded higher prices compared to works on paper.
1957
- First Prize at the Maharashtra State Exhibition
- Gold Medal at the All India Sculptor's Show
1965
- Prize for Sculpture at the Lalit Kala Akademi Exhibition
1968
- Rockefeller III Fellowship
Research Centre
Related
28
Personalities
18
Institutions
6