Raja Ravi Varma sold his famous painting Yashoda and Krishna at Rs 167.20 crore at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction in Mumbai. Industrialist Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla bought the artwork, making it the highest-priced sale of modern Indian art at auction.
Raja Ravi Varma sells painting at Rs 167 crore
Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla, managing director of the Serum Institute of India, has purchased Raja Ravi Varma’s painting Yashoda and Krishna. This sale sets a record for the highest price ever paid for a work of modern Indian art at auction.
The painting went for Rs 167.20 crore (around $18 million) at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction in Mumbai after competitive bidding. The sale surpassed the previous auction record of over Rs 118 crore. It achieved by MF Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra) last year.
1890s painting really get its worth
Painted in the 1890s during the peak of Raja Ravi Varma career, Yashoda and Krishna estimated to worth Rs 80-120 crore.
Poonawalla said, “I am privileged for this opportunity to acquire, preserve, and care for the iconic Raja Ravi Varma painting Yashoda and Krishna. This national treasure deserves made available for public viewing periodically. It will be my effort to facilitate this going forward, he said.
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