Sotheby's taps into Indian art market with ₹304 cr sales

Demand for Indian art is booming, as savvy millennials and high net worth individuals (HNIs) rush to pick up works of both modernist masters like Sayed Haider Raza, and Vasudeo S. Gaitonde as well as lesser-known painters such as Bhupen Khakhar, driving up record sales.

- Varuni Khosla

NEW DELHI:

London's Sotheby's, the world's oldest auction house, has emerged as a top performer in the Indian art market in 2024, more than doubling its sales to ₹304 crore or $35.1 million by auctioning artworks from the portfolio of contemporary South Asian art.

Representatives of the gallery said that growth is promising, with paintings of Raza, Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta setting new benchmarks as risk-taking younger collectors, both from India and abroad, drive demand.

The gallery, in its autumn 2024 sale, made ₹127.57 crore ($14.69 million).

In an exclusive interview with Mint, New York-based Manjari Sihare-Sutin, vice-president and co-worldwide head of modern and contemporary South Asian Art at Sotheby's, said there is a strong evolution of India's art market as domestic collectors are getting younger, with more HNIs and millennials investing in art.