AstaGuru’s ‘Collector’s Choice’ auction, held on 22–23 June 2026, delivered strong results and set new benchmarks for ten modern Indian artists, underscoring sustained momentum in the Indian art market.
The Mumbai-based auction house reported record-breaking performances for artists including B Prabha, C D Mistry, Laxman Shrestha, Anupam Sud, Dhanraj Bhagat, K G Subramanyan, Niren Sengupta, Sarbari Roy Chowdhury, Senaka Senanayake, and Vidya Bhushan. Key works such as Prabha’s Untitled (Potter Women), Subramanyan’s Figures with Mystical Birds (Diptych), and Sud’s A Veil of Vice and Virtue established new auction highs, reflecting growing collector interest in historically significant yet comparatively under-recognised modernists.
The sale also marked AstaGuru’s first auction featuring works sourced through its London office. Several of these works exceeded pre-sale estimates, indicating rising global confidence in the provenance and quality of Indian art circulating through international channels.
The auction catalogue brought together an expansive range of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper by leading figures of Indian modernism, including Raja Ravi Varma, M F Husain, F N Souza, Ram Kumar, J Swaminathan, and Ganesh Pyne. Among the highlights, Pyne’s The Conversation (1977) drew particular attention for its introspective visual language, while Swaminathan’s Untitled (Bird, Tree & Mountain) and Souza’s Untitled and Dancers reaffirmed the enduring demand for canonical modernists.
According to Manoj Mansukhani, Director of Marketing at AstaGuru, the results reflect a continued appetite among both seasoned and emerging collectors for works that combine artistic excellence with strong provenance. The auction’s performance signals a broader shift in the Indian art market, where attention is expanding beyond blue-chip names to include a wider spectrum of modern artists.
With strong sales across categories, Collector’s Choice highlights the deepening maturity of India’s art market and its increasing integration with global collecting circuits.
Cover Image: Untitled | F N Souza | Image credit: AstaGuru
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