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At over Rs 67 crore, Gaitonde canvas becomes second most expensive Indian artwork sold at auction

Saffronart auction in Delhi achieved a cumulative sales value of Rs 355.77 crore

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Sep 29, 2025 12:59 AM IST

The cumulative sale at Saturday's auction was Rs 355.77 crore, with all 85 lots that were featured sold.

Painted in 1970, when artist VS Gaitonde had already gained repute as an abstractionist, an untitled canvas in yellow with translucent layers of ochre and subdued floating forms has fetched a staggering Rs 67.08 crore, becoming the second most expensive Indian artwork sold at an auction.

Garnering nearly three times its higher estimate, the oil on canvas came under the hammer at Saffronart’s 25th Anniversary live evening sale held in Delhi on Saturday.
“Gaitonde has always been at the top. He held the record for the highest price for an Indian artwork for many years, so it’s only natural that he will reach those heights again. He wasn’t very prolific and there are only a limited number of his works, several of which are already in prominent private collections and museums, so naturally his prices will continue to rise. Today, it is extremely difficult to acquire a good Gaitonde,” said Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart CEO and co-founder.

The most expensive Indian artwork sold at an auction is MF Husain’s 1954 painting Untitled (Gram Yatra), which sold for more than Rs 118 crore in March 2025.

The cumulative sale at Saturday’s auction was Rs 355.77 crore, with all 85 lots that were featured sold. “The auction brought together an extraordinary selection of works and collectors responded to the rare opportunity of acquiring works of art historical importance with tremendous enthusiasm,” said Vazirani. “Today, Indians have generated wealth, are buying nice homes, and are increasingly also feeling the social pressure to acquire good art, as people now understand what is good art. There has also been a significant shift in mindset — people now recognise that art holds inherent value for the next generation and that it will appreciate. That belief is also giving them confidence.”

Fetching Rs 20.40 crore, F N Souza’s Six Gentlemen of Our Times, 1955 (set of six) garnered the highest value for a work on paper by a South Asian artist in an auction. The pen and ink work was created when the artist was based in London. A note on the set on the Saffronart website said: “In 1954, just a year before he drew the present lot, Souza had seriously considered returning to India, having barely managed to scrape by since moving to London. He gave up the plan when a Paris dealer offered him a solo show where he met poet Stephen Spender, the then editor of literary magazine Encounter… His fortunes shifted dramatically in 1955, when Encounter published his autobiographical essay ‘Nirvana of a Maggot’ in its February issue, coinciding with his debut solo exhibition at Gallery One, run by Victor Musgrave.”

Nalini Malani’s Nursery Tales (2008) sold for Rs 3.60 crore, over five times its higher estimate, setting the highest price achieved by a Malani work at an auction.

While Trussed Bull (1956) by Tyeb Mehta sold for Rs 56.40 crore, eight times its higher estimate, The Anchorite (1983) by Jehangir Sabavala sold for Rs 16.80 crore. A 1956 self-portrait in ink and paint on canvas by Jyoti Bhatt sold for Rs 50.40 lakh.

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Vazirani said: “Across the board, the so-called second-tier artists who have been overlooked till now are being looked at very seriously and their prices are rising quite rapidly. This is also because the top-end has gone so high and people entering the market now want something palatable that they resonate with.”

Vazirani said the Indian art market would achieve greater heights. “In the world art market, .1 percent of your GDP is the art market. For instance, in the US the GDP is $33 trillion, the art market is $30 billion, in China the GDP is $19 trillion, the art market is $19-20 billion. In India, our economy is four trillion and the art market is only $ 400 million; it should be four billion. So I believe there is still a long way to go.”

The collector base, meanwhile, is also expanding. “There are so many young collectors now coming into the market,” he said.

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