Prepare for a number that will make your eyes water: a single painting, Yashoda and Krishna by Raja Ravi Varma, just sold for a mind-boggling $17.9 million. That's not just a lot of cash; it's a brand-new auction record for Indian art, handily trouncing the previous high. Let that satisfying number sink in.
The sale, which went down at Saffronart in Delhi on April 1 (no fooling, apparently), saw the 1890s-era masterpiece blow past M.F. Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra), which snagged $13.8 million just last year. Varma himself only held a personal record of $4.5 million from 2023. So, yeah, he had a pretty good week.
The lucky — and clearly well-heeled — buyer? None other than Cyrus Poonawalla, the pharmaceutical billionaire and founder of the Serum Institute of India. Because when you're that successful, a little art history for your wall is just another Tuesday.
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Start Your News DetoxSaffronart, who clearly knows a thing or two about art, didn't hold back, calling Varma "the most influential pioneer of early modern Indian art." And this particular piece? "One of the artist’s most accomplished works." It depicts the infant Lord Krishna with his foster mother Yashoda, capturing that universal theme of a mother's love, which, in Indian culture, is a pretty big deal.
Here's the kicker: due to national heritage laws, paintings by Varma and a select few other artists cannot leave India. This means the absolute cream of the crop stays within a somewhat closed market. You might think that would dampen demand, but the numbers are screaming the exact opposite. Apparently, a little exclusivity only makes things more enticing. Because of course it does.
