Christie’s London Sale Signals a New Peak for South Asian Modern Art
A private collection assembled over the 1990s and 2000s has delivered one of the clearest signs yet of the market’s appetite for South Asian modern art. Christie’s first London sale in the category in seven years brought in £18.9 million ($23.9 million), with all 93 lots from a single collection selling above their presale estimates.
The strongest results came from three works by Ganesh Pyne (1937–2013), the Kolkata-born painter whose shadowed, dreamlike imagery draws on Bengali folklore and mythology. His *The Fisherman* (1979) led the sale at £3.8 million ($4.9 million), roughly 10 times its high estimate. *Under the Red Cloud* (1970) brought £2.4 million ($3 million), while *Woman the Serpent* (1975) also made £2.4 million. The prices, said South Asian art advisor Varun Kaji, underscore how long blue-chip Indian modern artists have lagged behind comparable Western names in collector recognition.
The auction also produced records for two artists central to Indian modernism. Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951), a foundational figure in the first half of the 20th century, set a new auction high with *Mahatma Gandhi* (1922), which sold for just over £1 million ($1.34 million) against a high estimate of £50,000 ($67,000). Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar (1911–1996), known for blending Western and Indian techniques in scenes of everyday life, achieved £698,500 ($937,000) for *Untitled (Gulmohar Tree)* (1962), while *Untitled (Woman Making Chapatis)* (1959) brought £406,400 ($545,000).
Another standout was Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924–2001), whose orange-and-red *Untitled* (1971), made while he was living in New York, sold for £2.3 million ($3 million). Gaitonde’s auction record remains the $14 million paid for an untitled golden-yellow canvas at Saffronart in Mumbai in 2013.
The London results extend momentum from Christie’s South Asian Modern and contemporary art auction in New York in March, which realized $27 million, also a record for the category. Across Asia’s five major regions, India has emerged as the strongest performer, with Artnet data showing a 2025 sell-through rate of 89 percent and AstaGuru reporting revenue growth of 138 percent between 2023–24 and 2025–26. As Damian Vesey of Christie’s put it, the results reflected “extraordinary demand” and “strong competition” from start to finish.
