A 1999 painting by the Gond artist sold for a hammer price of ₹18 crore, marking a dramatic new high for Jangarh Singh Shyam and drawing renewed attention to the growing international market for indigenous Indian art.
Jangarh Singh Shyam has achieved a remarkable new milestone in the Indian art market, with an untitled 1999 acrylic on canvas selling for a hammer price of ₹18 crore at Pundole Gallery in Mumbai on September 24, 2026. The sale establishes a new auction record for the Gond artist, whose distinctive visual language has played a pivotal role in bringing Gond art into contemporary art discourse.
Measuring 91 by 69 inches, the large-scale painting depicts a spiritual figure surrounded by snakes and birds within a tree. The work had been estimated at ₹4–6 crore, making the final hammer price more than three times the upper estimate.
From Gond visual traditions to the contemporary art market
Born in Madhya Pradesh in 1962, Jangarh Singh Shyam belonged to the Gond community and emerged as one of the most influential figures in the development of what is now widely known as Jangarh Kalam. He was discovered by artist J. Swaminathan in 1981, when he was around 16, and was invited to work at Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal. There, his visual vocabulary evolved from the traditions of Gond storytelling and imagery into a highly individual practice of painting and drawing.
Saffronart describes his work as a synthesis of tribal and modern contemporary art, while noting his distinctive use of repetitive patterns and imagery drawn from the natural and spiritual worlds.
Although Shyam’s career was tragically short, he died in 2001 and his influence has continued to grow. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, while his association with institutions such as Bharat Bhavan and the Mithila Museum helped establish his work within wider contemporary and museum contexts.
A changing conversation around Indian art
The record is particularly notable because Shyam’s work occupies a complicated position within Indian art history.
His paintings emerge from a deeply rooted Gond visual and cultural tradition, yet his practice also developed through encounters with modern and contemporary art institutions. Rather than simply reproducing an inherited visual vocabulary, Shyam developed an individual language built from pattern, colour, mythology, nature and spiritual imagery.
That distinction is important.
Jangarh Kalam is not simply synonymous with traditional Gond art. It refers to the artistic language that emerged through Shyam’s own practice and subsequently influenced generations of artists.
The rising auction prices therefore raise a larger question about how the Indian art market has historically categorised indigenous artists and how those categories are changing.
Beyond the ₹18 crore price tag
The ₹18 crore figure is striking, but perhaps the more significant story is what the sale says about the changing visibility of indigenous Indian art.
Jangarh Singh Shyam’s work has always existed at the intersection of tradition and innovation. His paintings draw from Gond cosmology and storytelling while using the possibilities of acrylic, canvas, scale and contemporary exhibition spaces.
More than two decades after his death, that visual language continues to find new audiences.
Featuring Image Courtesy: Open Magazine
Minerva is a visual artist and currently serves as a sub editor at Abir Pothi.
