Giftex.in’s Modern & Contemporary Art Auction delivered strong results; here are the top lots that surpassed estimates
A Round-Up of Giftex.in’s Modern & Contemporary Art Auction
Giftex.in’s Modern & Contemporary Art Auction delivered strong results; here are the top lots that surpassed estimates
The top lots from Giftex’s Modern and Contemporary Art Auction (26–27 April 2026) collectively underscored a market that is not only buoyant but also evolving in sophistication and depth. Exceptional results for artists such as Jitish Kallat, Sakti Burman, Badri Narayan, A. A. Raiba, Arpana Caur, K. Laxma Goud, T. Vaikuntam, G. R. Iranna, and Krishen Khanna reveal a clear pattern of works dramatically exceeding estimates, in some cases by several multiples.
For instance, Kallat’s Island Worship achieved over ₹67 lakh, significantly surpassing its estimate of ₹20 lakh, while Burman’s Untitled (Divine Delights) realised ₹30.93 lakh, nearly ten times its higher estimate. Badri Narayan’s still life crossed ₹40 lakh, and A. A. Raiba’s 1998 work soared past expectations to achieve over ₹57 lakh, each result reinforcing strong demand. Similarly, works by Krishen Khanna, including a female nude paper work that reached ₹61 lakh, demonstrate how even departures from his iconic Bandwalla imagery can command competitive bidding. Including both the estimates and final realised prices in such cases clearly illustrates the widening gap between expectation and outcome, highlighting an increasingly confident and competitive collector base.
Equally significant is what these sales reveal about evolving collector priorities. There is a marked preference for works that engage with layered narratives, whether rooted in mythology, memory, or socio-political realities. Kallat’s meditation on the pressures of urban life, Burman’s poetic, myth-inflected imagery, and Caur’s reinterpretation of folk narratives all point to a renewed interest in storytelling as a critical driver of value. At the same time, quieter genres such as still life and landscape, as seen in Narayan and Raiba, are being re-evaluated through the lens of symbolism and rarity, while artists like Iranna bring existential and corporeal tensions to the fore.
The strong performance of Krishen Khanna beyond his signature Bandwalla imagery further suggests that the market is expanding its understanding of artistic identity, rewarding diversity within an artist’s practice. Collectively, these results signal a maturing ecosystem, one that values conceptual depth, narrative richness, and distinctive visual languages, driving a sustained and high-value growth trajectory in the Indian art market.
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