Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde’s untitled 1971 painting, which recently created a stir at a record-setting auction conducted by Saffronart in Delhi. The artwork sold for an astonishing $40.2 million (£29.9 million), marking the highest total ever recorded for South Asian art. This auction further cemented Gaitonde’s significance as a leading artist on the global stage. Highlighting the booming international appetite for Indian art, it harped on the increasing global interest.
The large, untitled work centers on a radiant golden ground. Her faint colors and textures and her palimpsest-like surface yield a sense of movement and stillness all at once. Gaitonde’s work, which by itself sold for $7.57 million—almost three times its low estimate—now ranks as India’s second most expensive painting. The auction room was electric with competitive bidding. In the end, it delivered a white glove result that is almost unheard of with 100 percent of every lot sold.
The recent auction fittingly resounded with the colorful India Art Fair currently taking over Delhi. This fantastic show attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. Together, these events herald a rapidly growing market for Indian art. Industry insiders value its current worth at $338 million, a heart-pounding rise from around $2 million at the beginning of the millennium. Projections indicate the market may grow to $1.1 billion by 2030.
Along with Gaitonde’s record-making sale, MF Husain’s “Untitled (Gram Yatra)” was another showstopper, bringing in $13.8 million. Meanwhile, Francis Newton Souza’s landscape “Houses in Hampstead” was sold at a price marginally lower than Gaitonde’s piece, making it the third highest-grossing painting in India.
The economic growth of the Indian art market has been significantly accelerated by recent tax cuts. They reduced the goods and services tax (GST) on art from 12% to 5%. This heavy reduction has attracted a more speculative class of collectors to the market. 25-30% of buyers are first-time buyers at Saffronart, according to their recent market report. Just the same, a full third of Sotheby’s bidders last month were first-time buyers.
Manjari Sihare-Sutin, the co-head of Sotheby’s Indian and South Asian Art department, attributed a big international interest abroad for Indian art. As she described it, many of these diaspora collectors are keen to acquire “a piece of their heritage. This trend emphasizes creativity’s ability to engage and empower through art to help people connect to their traditions. This bond is particularly felt by all Indians living outside of India.
Pooja Sood, director of the India Art Fair, remarked on the increasing participation from smaller towns often overlooked by the art world. She stated, “They’re trying to build their own thing,” highlighting the grassroots movement in the art scene. Sood emphasized her belief that “the more mad, crazy, experimental art happens in very small pockets,” indicating a vibrant undercurrent of innovation in the industry.
The latest auction season has stoked an already booming market. Indeed, millionaire households in India almost tripled in the last four years. Auctioneers counter that increasing maximum prices boost interest and appreciation for other, lesser-known artists who have not been in the spotlight. Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder of the auction house Saffronart, reminisced how the industry had changed since its early days.
When we launched back in 2000, folks thought we were nuts, he said. “Who’s going to buy art online?” As he watched the industry grow and develop, his view of TNCs has shifted. “Seeing the art market with so much strength almost validated that what we started as maybe foolish young people has become a very mature industry.”
Collectors, Vazirani has noticed, are getting smarter. In short, now they are realizing that art that is held for extended periods of time builds significant value. We know that millions of Americans appreciate art for something deeper than mere investment. They view it through the lens of its transformative ability to heal rifts and reinforce community ties.
Ina Puri, an esteemed art critic, expressed optimism regarding the current state of Indian art: “I feel that Indian art has made a comeback.” She illustrated the movement with dozens of examples of new institutions, museums, and spaces across the nation. These spaces, intentionally opened as a home for art, prove a deep devotion to the cultivation of creativity.