70 years of Progressives celebrated by Christie's London

For the 22nd time Christie's London will set the stage for the annual South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art auction. The majority of the works to be offered are sourced from private collections and are fresh to the market – these are works which have been acquired directly from either the artists or their galleries and are coming to auction for the first time.

Led by a masterpiece by Tyeb Mehta, the London auction on May 25 will offer 68 works spanning from Bengal School masters Rabindranath and Abanindranath Tagore, to a body of work consisting of 54 individual works designed to be a set of playing cards; where each 'card' is by a different artist from masters like Syed HaiderRaza to young contemporary artists like Shilpa Gupta. This year's sale will pay particular tribute to the Progressive Artists' Group and their contemporaries which celebrates 70 years since its foundation on the eve of Indian independence in 1947.

In the 1930s and 40s in India, the idea of modernism was linked with the growth of individual consciousness and internationalism as it was with the new sense of national identity in the country. Its expression in the arts then had important historical and sociopolitical dimensions. It was in this environment, just before India gained independence in 1947, that the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) was formed. The founding members included the masters Francis Newton Souza, Maqbool Fida Husain, Syed Haider Raza and, Sadanand Bakre, Krishnaji Howlaji Ara and Hari Ambadas Gade. Though unique in their individual style, the modernist vocabularies of each of the founding members of the PAG were united in their antithetical position to the academic, romantic and orientalist schools of art that they succeeded in replacing.

Their conviction and commitment to the ideal of building a new, modern cannon of art for India remained unchanged. It is not surprising then that the founding members of the PAG and their close associates such as Tyeb Mehta are counted among South Asia's most important modern artists.

This year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their foundation, Christie's will present a selection of exceptional examples of rare early works by all six original members and several of their illustrious associates. These works recognise these luminaries as the standard bearers for avant-garde Indian modern to this day.

The centerpiece of the auction will be Tyeb Mehta's (1925-2009) Untitled (Woman on Rickshaw) estimated at £1,500,000-2,000,000 / $1,900,000-2,500,000).

The second Tyeb Mehta work is 1961 painted Thrown Bull estimated at (£120,000-180,000 / $150,000-220,000).

M F Husain's 1960's painting of horses is estimated at (£200,000-300,000 / $250,000-370,000)

Sayed HaiderRaza's 1956 work (estimate: £30,000-50,000 / $38,000-62,000) represents a seminal period of intense experimentation in Raza's oeuvre in Paris.

Francis Newton Souza's 1961 work Untitled (Lady in Tunic) defined by the artist's powerful lines is estimated at ( £80,000-120,000 / $100,000-150,000).

Jehangir Sabavala's Still Life with Apples 1949 was painted in Paris and is estimated at (£80,000-120,000 / $100,000-150,00).