New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- In 2000, when Minal and Dinesh Vazirani founded Saffronart, India's first online marketplace and auction house, their friends and well-wishers were confounded. "Everyone said, are you crazy? No one is going to buy art online," Minal Vazirani recalls. A quarter century later, as Saffronart prepares to host the 25th anniversary of its live flagship auction in New Delhi, the Vaziranis seem to be having the last laugh. Following a preview at The Oberoi in New Delhi on 25 September, the live auction of the current lot, estimated at a total value of Rs.157-214 crore, will take place on 27 September.

At the centre of this bouquet of modernist masterpieces are five precious lots from what was once the Jean and Krishna Ribo...