Art lovers can't part with their Amrita Sher-Gils easily, which explains why such few lots ever come up in auction. This year, Sotheby's managed a coup of sorts when it got its hands on Sher-Gil's Little Girl in Blue (1934), believed to be lost, and unseen for 80 years. It is also only the third Sher-Gil oil to go under the hammer in India.

The portrait was of Sher-Gil's cousin, Babette Singh Mann, who is 92 today, and who was present and swigging champagne when the portrait was unveiled in Delhi recently. In 1937, the portrait was sold to eminent art critic Charles Fabri, believed to be Sher-Gil's paramour, and remained with his family since. On Thursday, at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, it went for Rs 18cr, the highest price ever achieved for the artist in India.