This is an archive article published on April 3, 2025

Tyeb Mehta’s ‘Trussed Bull’ sold for 61.8 crore, becomes second most expensive work of Indian art sold at an auction

Fetching the staggering amount at a Saffronart auction yesterday, it shares the position with Amrita Sher-Gil's The Storyteller

5 min readUpdated: Apr 4, 2025 04:49 AM IST

Tyeb Mehta's 'Trussed Bull' (PR Handout)

Inspired by the image of a trussed bull made in Egyptian bas-relief he encountered in 1954 at the British Museum in London — where he was residing at the time — Tyeb Mehta’s 1956 canvas Trussed Bull has fetched a staggering Rs 61.80 crore, making it the second most expensive work of Indian art to be sold at an auction, sharing the position with Amrita Sher-Gil’s The Storyteller that sold for the same price in September 2023.

Mehta’s oil painting of the bull, which came up for sale from his estate, commanded the sum in a packed hall during the 25th Anniversary Live Sale of Saffronart in Mumbai on April 2.

The current record for the most expensive work of Indian art to be auctioned is held by MF Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra) that sold at a Christie’s auction in New York for Rs 118 crore last month.

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Discussing Mehta’s work as one of the highlights of the auction ahead of the sale, Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder and CEO of Saffronart, had stated: “The remarkable sophistication of this painting lies not only in the potency of Tyeb’s imagery but also in his ability to distill his subject to its most essential form. He renders the bull with thick, precise black lines, echoing the style of his drawings from the same period. The thick impasto colour fields highlight the equal importance he accorded to colour, space and structure. This emphasis later evolved into flat, fractured planes of colour that became a defining feature of his style from the late 1960s onwards.”

Tyeb Mehta (Wikimedia Commons)

The Kapadvanj (Gujarat)-born artist, who graduated from the Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai in 1952, became captivated by the bull figure during his student years. He frequently observed these powerful animals at the Kennedy Bridge in South Bombay and a slaughterhouse in the Bandra suburbs. He was deeply moved by the stark contrast between their raw strength and the cruelty of their captivity. Explaining the significance of the bull in his art in an interview with art historian and curator Yashodhara Dalmia (cited in the auction lot essay), he had stated, “As the discovery of an image, the trussed bull was important for me on several levels. As a statement of great energy… blocked or tied up. The way they tie up the animal’s legs and fling it on the floor of the slaughterhouse before butchering it… you feel something very vital has been lost.”

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Appearing in several of his works, the imagery of the trussed bull was both a metaphor for humanity’s failure to realise its full potential and an expression of Mehta’s feelings of entrapment by circumstance. It symbolised his desire to overcome suffering, reflecting his inner turmoil and the haunting memories of the Partition. The traumatic experience of witnessing a man being slaughtered in the street outside his house during the Partition riots, when he was in his early 20s, left an indelible mark on both his mind and his work.

A member of the famed Progressive Artists’ Group established in Mumbai in 1947, the artist was also a trained film editor who lived in London from 1959 to 1964, and visited the US on a Rockefeller Fund Scholarship in 1968. Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007 for his contribution to Indian art, his works are in prominent museum collections the world over. This year also marks the birth centenary of Mehta, who passed away in 2009.

In addition to Mehta’s work, the auction featured several other works that sold for prices far exceeding their estimates, making it “the highest value sale of South Asian art ever achieved at an auction” — recording a figure of Rs 217.81 crore.

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Speaking to The Indian Express after the sale of MF Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra), Vazirani said: “Over the last few years, the Indian art market became very vibrant with both Indian and non-Indian buyers showing serious interest. Art is now ingrained in people’s minds where they are curious, keen on acquiring the best and acknowledging value based on the importance of a painting… Strong capital markets, rising incomes, and easier access to art and information have driven demand… Notably, this is the first time a work by Husain has led the Indian art market with a world record, something previously achieved by artists like S H Raza, Tyeb Mehta, Amrita Sher-Gil and VS Gaitonde. This breakthrough is likely to influence the prices of these artists too, driving upward movement for key pieces that hold both historical significance and importance in the broader context of Indian art.”

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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