A 35 x 28.25-inch oil painting by Raja Ravi Varma sold for ₹167.2 crore at the Saffronart spring auction on Wednesday, making it the costliest Indian painting to be sold in an auction till date. Titled Yashoda and Krishna, the work was made by the feted Indian artist in the 1890s and bears his signature. “It shows the immense value of our culture, and the lengths that collectors are willing to go to acquire such a work,” Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder and CEO of Saffronart said after the sale.
The painting was bought by Cyrus S Poonawalla, the founder and managing director of the Pune-headquartered Serum Institute of India.
“I am privileged to have the opportunity to acquire, preserve, and care for the iconic Raja Ravi Varma painting Yashoda and Krishna. This national treasure deserves to be made available for public viewing periodically, and it will be my endeavour to facilitate this going forward," a press release sent by Saffronart quoted him as saying.
Raja Ravi Varma’s works are classified as national treasures and are thus non-exportable, making the buyer an Indian collector.
{{/usCountry}}Raja Ravi Varma’s works are classified as national treasures and are thus non-exportable, making the buyer an Indian collector.
{{/usCountry}}“This is a defining moment for the Indian art market. Raja Ravi Varma’s Yashoda and Krishna — a universal subject reminiscent as much of Madonna and Christ, or of any mother and child, and arguably the most iconic and desirable work, the Mona Lisa of Indian art — has not only achieved a new world record, it has done so with conviction, more than doubling its lower estimate of ₹80 crore, exceeding it by ₹87.2 crore — an increase of over 100%,” said Ashish Anand, MD and CEO of DAG (formerly Delhi Art Gallery).
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Last March, a work by Maqbool Fida Husain sold for a record $13.7 million (approximately ₹118.7 crore) at a Christie’s South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction in New York setting the world record for Indian art.
The Raja Ravi Varma work sale surpassed the record by ₹49.2 crore — an increase of over 40%.