Zinda artist ki value kya hai? Indian artists dissect high-value art while shedding light on daily reality

More than a century after his death Raja Ravi Varmarsquos art commands prices that rival global masters A recent Saffronart auction of his painting Yashoda and Krishna for a recordbreaking Rs 167 crore raises a fundamental question is an artwork worth all that moneyImran Khan painterItrsquos a query that gives rise to more questions than answers Who decides value in the art world Who can afford these steep prices and who actually benefitsIn the past year India has seen several such multicrore deals mdash a marker of a boom in the desi art market And whatrsquos good for the art world must be good for artists right Not necessarily In most such megaauctions the cheque doesnrsquot go to the artist or their kin but to the seller often a private collector or an institution And the biggest deals are usually struck over the work of deceased artists Just like the Rs 118crore auction in 2025 of a painting by the late MF Husain which was the recordholder until nowYashoda and Krishna is open to public viewing for free today at an AstaGuru exhibition at Nehru Centre Worli right Raja Ravi VarmaIn comparison the Hurun India Art List 2025 an annual roundup of the most successful living Indian artists based on auction sales shows that the current top artists donrsquot even come close At the very top is Mumbaiborn Anish Kapoor with total art sales worth Rs 435 in 2025 while Husainrsquos friend and the last surviving member of his art circle Krishen Khanna now 100 comes second with total sales worth R43 crore His highestevervalued painting sold for Rs 926 crore last yearIt seems then that what the biggest buyers are really paying for is not just technique but also exclusivity There are only a limited number of Raja Ravi Varmas and MF Husains available for sale so the value surgesValay ShendeFor contemporary artists like Valay Shende that reality hits home ldquoIt has taken me about 20 years to reach where I amrdquo he says pointing to the slow build of recognition that precedes any big sale His own highestbid artwork Watchman Rs 11 crore though significant is worlds apart from 10figure headlines underscoring the vast gap between living artists and posthumous marketsThe Indian art market seems to be rising globally when the world is slowing down In 2024 the Indian art market valuation stood at Rs 1450 crore compared to a global public sales of 158 lakh crore However Shende disagrees ldquoIf we consider the other countries like China they are ahead of usrdquoWhere a painting is sold for crores numerous artists spend decades selling their art and talent on the roads for mere pennies PicAnanya TomcyHe sees the auction sale through a hopeful lens ldquoThe Raja Ravi Varma painting was priced very wellrdquo Shende says ldquoIt inspires others to buy not just antique but also contemporary art where artists really need the support Unfortunately India lacks even a functional institution here to support artistsrdquoYet he is cleareyed about the motivations driving such recordbreaking purchases ldquoFor some itrsquos an investment For some itrsquos about stature Butart is not created with that in mindrdquo he says The danger he suggests is when art is appreciated too late for the artist ldquoArtists should not starve Their lives should cultivate financial success Jab hum zinda hai tabhi uski value honi chahiye nardquoValay Shendersquos highest bid for his artwork Watchman went for 131000 USD approximately Rs 11 croreAs Indiarsquos art market bucks a global slowdown they also raise questions about who gets access to high art who profits and whether 167 crore is the price one pays to cherish a masterpiece from close quarters or merely for the prestige of owning onelsquoArt is worth what wersquore willing to pay for itrsquoJoe Cyril founder and gallery director of Muziris Contemporary says that auctions in particular are good yardsticks for market valueBuyers in todayrsquos art market are a diverse mix with ldquoretail buyers business people firsttime collectors and institutionsrdquo says Joe Cyril of Muziris Contemporary a gallery in Colaba ldquoGalleries operate in the primary market directly supporting artists while auctions deal in resalesrdquo he goes on to explainHence artists donrsquot get proceeds from auctionsCyril notes that collecting often blends personal interest with awareness of market value ldquoOne needs to have a passion for buying art I donrsquot think people buy for purely financial and investment purposesrdquo Having said that he does not deny that investment is also a common possibility ldquoEspecially when you collect art that comes into auctions You can see if it has appreciated in value One usually buys from auctions or galleries for owning a piece of cultural history or if they expect it to grow in market valuerdquoBut when it comes to Indian Masters is there an ethical responsibility to filter who gets to buy a priceless work of art only to lock it out of the publicrsquos reach Cyril takes a pragmatic stance While galleries may encourage institutional placements ldquoif they pay the market price they are the most deserving ownerrdquo As for whether paying 167 crore Raja Ravi Varma is ldquoworth itrdquo his answer is simple ldquoIt is worth exactly what the market is willing to pay for itrdquolsquoIt is the creation of the brand not deathrsquoGanesh Shivaswamy founder of the Ganesh Shivaswamy Foundation says that intent of the buyer does not matter as long as they can shell out the big bucksGanesh Shivaswamy advocate author and academician is clear on who gets to buy art Auctions are inherently democratic but impersonal ldquoAll auctions are the result of competitive biddingrdquo In other words the highest bidder wins In this case the Rs 167crore bid was secured by vaccine billionaire Cyrus PoonawallaWhen it comes to where the money goes Shivaswamy maintain ldquoI know who the seller is but I donrsquot wish to reveal itrdquo The proceeds therefore remain outside public scrutinyOn public access the answer lies in law A cluster of Kerala High Court interventions around Ravi Varma paintings from 2010 to 2015 together established a key principle mdash the state cannot arbitrarily take over or control privately owned Ravi Varma works unless backed by specific legal authority The government intervened in one more aspect mdash labelling Ravi Varma paintings national treasures the Centre has banned their sale to international buyers In the same spirit Poonawalla has also pledged to loan the painting for public viewingThe staggering price isnrsquot about rarity or history Shivaswamy argues ldquoIt is the appeal of the subject the technical skill the brand the scarcityrdquo And the idea that artists only gain value after death He dismisses it ldquoIt is not death It is the creation of the brandrdquoWhy HNIs love artAayush Maheshwari chartered accountant with a PhD in Impact of Taxation on Indian Economy explains why the biggest art sales in the past year have mostly been to high net worth individuals HNIs and ultra HNIs UHNIs such as vaccine baron Cyrus Poonawalla investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and philanthropist Kiran Nadar ldquoArt is a capital asset under Indian law The income tax identifies artworks as depreciable assets when used in business and can be used for tax benefitsrdquo So lower taxes in long run and taxfree gifting to heirslsquoArt is a multidimensional assetrsquoTeesta Bhandare art collectoradvisor and founder of The Knowledge Convergence Foundation explains that India does not yet have a robust framework for royaltiesTeesta Bhandare who is the collector art advisor and founder of The Knowledge Convergence Foundation explains the surge in highvalue Indian art reflects a deeper shift in how art is perceived and consumed ldquoArt is increasingly seen as a multidimensional assetrdquo she elaborates ldquoIncreased visibility through widely publicised auctions has also played a key role These events set benchmarks and create momentum encouraging new collectors to enter the marketrdquo Importantly she pushes back against the idea that money undermines meaning While art may be treated as an investment ldquoit does not necessarily diminish its cultural or emotional significance The two factors can coexistrdquoOn the question of who actually benefits Bhandare is direct ldquoIn most cases it is the seller who benefits because India doesnrsquot have a robust royalties frameworkrdquo The auction house too gets a commission This means that estates and families rarely gain from soaring posthumous priceslsquoNaam hona bohot zaroori hairsquoStreetside artists Imran Khan and Rajendra Ramdas Karpe could not be farther from the rarified world of multicrore art dealsRajendra Karpe behind his artwork stallOn the footpaths outside Jehangir Art Gallery where tourists pause and traffic hums past the art market looks very different from the multicrore headlinesImran Khan has been sketching Mumbairsquos heritage buildings in charcoal here for over two decades ldquoOur paintings sell for Rs 10000ndashRs 20000rdquo he says adding that earnings are unpredictable especially during the monsoon when business comes to a halt ldquoWe donrsquot get any sponsors or commissions Itrsquos nothing like the life of artists being displayed inside JehangirrdquoImran Khan behind his artwork stallThe contrast with artists like Raja Ravi Varma isnrsquot lost on him ldquoThey must have struggled toordquo Khan says ldquobut some things are destiny some are environment The industry and government should also support artists like usrdquo For many he adds the lack of a platform forces talent into obscurity ldquoUnka art dabb hi jata hairdquoA few feet away Rajendra Karpe who travels daily from Panvel sells intricate penwork for Rs 2000ndashRs 3000 His highest sale of Rs 20000 still fills him with pride bringing a smile to his face as he narrates his tale He shines light on the lack of support or visibility ldquoNaam hona bohot zaroori hairdquo he says ldquoEveryone has talent but not everyone gets that attentionrdquoKarpe points to structural inequality ldquoArtists in museums often come from big houses Wersquove been here 25ndash30 years but no one from inside has given us a chance In fact Jehangirrsquos madam has complained numerous times to the BMC for us to move We are not on their property but they still feel threatened with our presencerdquo His expectations like many others here are modest ldquoIf we can support our families thatrsquos enoughrdquolsquoItrsquos like buying a piece of historyrsquoDinesh Vazirani CEO of Saffronart says that when global politics get tense investors look for safer assets like gold silver and artFor Dinesh Vazirani of Saffronart mdash which hosted the recordbreaking Spring Live Auction of the Raja Ravi Varma canvas in Mumbai on April 1 mdash the surge in Indiarsquos art market is rooted in both history and economics In times of global uncertainty he notes investors gravitate toward ldquosafer transportable assets like gold silver and artrdquo Add to that Indiarsquos growing wealth aspirational homeownership and a ldquosocial pressurerdquo to own the best and demand for highvalue art intensifies Bidding Rs 167 crore for a Raja Ravi Varma painting he explains is ldquobuying a piece of historyrdquo Pricing therefore is driven by a mix of rarity provenance visibility and cultural significanceBuyers are largely wealthy individuals and institutions and once sold control lies entirely with them ldquoItrsquos a collectorrsquos painting He can decide what he wants to do with itrdquoBiggest art sales last yearRs 118 crUntitled Gram Yatra 1954 by MF HusainRs 6708 crUntitled painting 1970 by VS GaitondeRs 669 crHouses in Hampstead by Francis Newton SouzaRs 618 crTrussed Bull 1999 by Tyeb Mehta