In November 2024, a crypto billionaire named Justin Sun paid $6.2 million (₹54.56 crore) for Maurizio Cattelan’s provocative work—a duct-taped banana—titled Comedian. A few days later, Sun famously ate the banana in front of the media. While the world debated the absurdity of it all, experts and specialists saw a much deeper narrative at play, the intersection of traditional art, internet memes, and the rising influence of digital native wealth. According to the Artprice Contemporary Art Market Report 2025, this is the new reality of a “transvertical” market where barriers between mediums, periods, and even asset classes are rapidly dissolving. In fact, many are calling it “a new reality.”

In 2025, the global art world navigated—and continues to—what is described as a “transforming market” rather than a “shrinking” one. The overarching data from the Art Basel & UBS Global Art Market 2026 report and the Deloitte-ArtTactic Art & Finance Report 2025 describes an ecosystem undergoing a profound structural recalibration. While aggregate global sales fell by 12 per cent in 2024 to an estimated $57.5 billion (₹5.06 lakh crore), the underlying frequency of transactions reached a historic peak of 146,000 lots. It seems the global art market is moving away from a top-heavy structure that’s reliant on a few blue-chip trophies to a broader, higher volume-based market where new collectors—loaded with rising wealth—will play a big role.

In a rising market, the Top 50 Indian artists generated a total turnover of ₹2,226.8 crore at auction in 2025, re-staking their claim toward the $1 billion mark. They sold 1,881 total lots, achieving an average price of ₹1.18 crore per work.

Topping the leaderboard was M.F. Husain at ₹465.8 crore, followed by Tyeb Mehta at ₹305.4 crore, F.N. Souza at ₹268.1 crore, S.H. Raza at ₹142.1 crore, and V.S. Gaitonde at ₹110.1 crore. The Top 3 alone accounted for ₹1,039.3 crore.

Further down, Jehangir Sabavala reached ₹92.3 crore, J. Swaminathan ₹85.2 crore, Krishen Khanna ₹59.6 crore, Ram Kumar ₹50.3 crore, and Manjit Bawa ₹49.7 crore. Amrita Sher-Gil hit ₹44.7 crore, Bhupen Khakhar ₹34.3 crore, Akbar Padamsee ₹33.8 crore, Anish Kapoor ₹31.1 crore, and N.S. Bendre ₹31.0 crore.

The list continued with Raja Ravi Varma at ₹23.1 crore, Rabindranath Tagore ₹22.6 crore, Ganesh Pyne ₹19.8 crore, and others like K.H. Ara, Arpita Singh, Thota Vaikuntam, Nalini Malani, Somnath Hore, Jamini Roy, and more down to Subodh Gupta.

This scale signals structural robustness, with Modern art leading despite Contemporary growth.

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Consigning an artwork means giving it to an auction company like AstaGuru to sell on the collector’s behalf. For many collectors and enthusiasts, it is less about financial urgency and more about refining portfolios, collections, and legacies with care.

The process begins with valuation, which determines the right price for a work of art and is often offered as a complementary service by reputed auction houses. Rarity, provenance, and other unique details about the artist or artwork can shape that valuation. Preliminary photographs, along with size, medium, provenance, and dimensions, help assess the prospects of the work.

Auction houses can take two main routes with a consigned piece: they may place it in a public auction or sell it privately. Works valued at a certain threshold may also be exhibited before auction so interested viewers can see them in person. Private sales are handled through trusted advisors, without public auction or exhibition, allowing for bespoke negotiations and greater confidentiality.

The contract is another critical part of the process, covering the reserve price, duration of the deal, marketing responsibilities, and procedures for unforeseen events. It also sets out insurance responsibility, especially important when artworks are physically moved and handled.

Read the full story in the premiere issue of LuxeTrope, on stands now.

For decades, the art world’s narrative was told through a narrow lens, with female artists often categorised as exceptions to the rule rather than the rule itself. However, as we moved through 2025, that narrative saw a fundamental shift. The presence of women in the Indian art market is no longer just a conversation about representation, it’s a conversation about market leadership, financial dominance, and cultural permanence. The past year demonstrated that the female perspective is a cornerstone of the market’s stability, with women driving some of the most competitive bidding. At auction, the contributions of women artists, from distinguished Modernists to Contemporary figures, are being recognised with high interest.

From the vivid canvases of Arpana Caur to the intricate palette knife of Shraddha More, the market is moving to a consistent demand for Contemporary women artists. But if there’s a single figure who embodies the strength and prestige of the 2025 market, it remains Amrita Sher-Gil. Her legacy as a foundational figure of Indian Modern art has only grown. In 2025, Sher-Gil maintained her position at the very top of the auction hierarchy, achieving a total turnover of ₹37.52 crore ($4.26 million) from 25 lots sold. The year’s most significant highlight occurred during AstaGuru’s November 2025 auction—her masterpiece, Portrait of Mother, sold for ₹12.10 crore ($1.38 million). This sale served as a definitive testament to the deep-rooted strength of the Modern segment and confirmed that Sher-Gil remains a blue-chip standard. The consistent demand for her work across 25 different lots, be it canvas or paper, indicates her importance.

While some artists find success through high trading volume, the 2025 market also highlighted the value found in rarity. Arpita Singh is a prime example. Despite only six lots sold last year, her work generated a turnover of ₹17.25 crore ($1.96 million). This indicates high interest for her complex, narrative-heavy compositions. Following a similar trajectory of uniqueness is Nasreen Mohamedi. Known for her minimalist and deeply philosophical works, Mohamedi is perhaps the most exclusive female artist on the 2025 list.

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Indian tribal artists have transitioned from mud walls and forest homes to museum collections, galleries, and auction catalogues. Jangarh Singh Shyam, a Pardhan Gond artist, developed ‘Jangarh Kalam’, translating oral songs, myths, and musical rhythms into dense visual constellations of dots and lines. In 2025, his auction turnover reached just over ₹4.81 crore ($546,303) across 22 lots. At AstaGuru, his untitled acrylic from 1997 sold for ₹51.87 lakh ($58,943), another untitled canvas from 1992 fetched ₹26.57 lakh ($30,193), and a 1989 work on paper realised ₹10.45 lakh ($11,875). 

Bhuri Bai is the defining voice of Bhil art. She arrived at Bharat Bhavan as a construction labourer earning ₹6 a day and became one of the most important Bhil artists. In 2025, her auction turnover stood at ₹79.36 lakh ($90,181) across nine lots. Bhuri Bai was the first from her community to shift from clay walls to paper and canvas, using acrylic without abandoning traditional form. Her dense, multicoloured dot in-filling is her signature.

Jodhaiya Bai Baiga, born in 1938 in Umaria district, began painting after her husband’s death in her forties. Her work draws from Baiga cosmology: sacred mahua trees, forest animals, village deities. She received a Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2022 and Padma Shri in 2023. In 2025, Bholenath, Nandi, Devotees In Jungle sold for ₹9.66 lakh ($10,980) at AstaGuru, Sita Haran fetched ₹7.98 lakh ($9,068), Durga Mata realised ₹1.47 lakh ($1,670) at Giftex.in, and her turnover reached ₹72.66 lakh ($82,568) across five lots.

Lado Bai started painting to unwind while labouring at Bharat Bhavan. Her talent was spotted by Swaminathan. Her rhythmic dots form wave-like patterns of flora and fauna. In late 2025 at Giftex.in, Bharadi 2022 sold for ₹4.60 lakh ($5,227), with other works between ₹1.39 lakh ($1,579) and ₹1.85 lakh ($2,102). Her auction turnover for the year stood at ₹7.75 lakh ($8,806).

Read the full story in the premiere issue of LuxeTrope, on stands now.

Himmat Shah’s market has continued to gather strength through a body of work that balances material experimentation with sculptural restraint. His five highest-selling lots between 2021 and 2025 show just how strongly collectors respond to that language.

Leading the list is Untitled (Christ) (Ed: 2-5), which sold for ₹1,01,67,601 ($115,540). As his top-performing auction lot, it captures the appeal of Shah’s ability to distil presence into a pared-down sculptural vocabulary.