₹10.7 crore hammer price: Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘From Across The Dark’ becomes his most expensive painting, overtakes ‘Three Bauls’
Rabindranath Tagore's 1937 painting "From Across The Dark" set a new record, selling for Rs 10.7 crore at AstaGuru's Historic Masterpieces auction.
- Dec 19, 2025,
- Updated Dec 19, 2025 11:12 AM IST
Rabindranath Tagore's painting "From Across The Dark" set a new benchmark at auction, fetching ₹10.7 crore at the AstaGuru Historic Masterpieces event. At the same auction, Tyeb Mehta's untitled "Gesture" realised the highest bid at ₹53.5 crore, and Jehangir Savavala's "Conspirator" sold for ₹12.25 crore.
This is the highest price ever realised for a Tagore artwork, surpassing previous records and drawing renewed attention to Tagore's artistic legacy. The current record surpasses previous benchmarks for his works, including "Three Bauls," which sold for $772,546 (approximately ₹5.7 crore) at Sotheby's in 2023, and another untitled piece at Christie's in 2021 for $637,500 (approximately ₹4.7 crore).
AstaGuru Auction House director - marketing Manoj Mansukhani said, "Sold at the Historic Masterpieces auction, the work has set a new auction record for being the highest realised price for an artwork by Rabindranath Tagore." He added, "We are delighted to have achieved this landmark result. The sale is particularly significant as the work by Tagore is among the most important works to have appeared at an auction in the last decade."
The painting, part of a Mumbai-based collection, was auctioned with a handwritten card from Tagore, featuring a Bengali message "Tamosah Parastat" and its English translation, "From across the dark." Both the painting and the card have remained together since 1937.
AstaGuru noted in the catalogue, "The painting and the card have remained together ever since. They stand as a rare testament to Tagore’s late creative life and the private human bonds that shaped it."
Created with ink, poster colour, and crayon on cardboard, "From Across The Dark" was completed during Tagore's extended stay in Almora between April and June 1937, a period marked by renewed artistic intensity.
In a letter dated 11 June 1937, Tagore reflected on a strange listlessness that had come with age, yet wrote that his brush and paints sheltered him, adding context to the painting's significance.
Tagore began painting seriously only in 1928 at the age of 67. Tagore's achievement at this sale reflects the growing recognition of his late-period contributions to Indian art.
Rabindranath Tagore's painting "From Across The Dark" set a new benchmark at auction, fetching ₹10.7 crore at the AstaGuru Historic Masterpieces event. At the same auction, Tyeb Mehta's untitled "Gesture" realised the highest bid at ₹53.5 crore, and Jehangir Savavala's "Conspirator" sold for ₹12.25 crore.
This is the highest price ever realised for a Tagore artwork, surpassing previous records and drawing renewed attention to Tagore's artistic legacy. The current record surpasses previous benchmarks for his works, including "Three Bauls," which sold for $772,546 (approximately ₹5.7 crore) at Sotheby's in 2023, and another untitled piece at Christie's in 2021 for $637,500 (approximately ₹4.7 crore).
AstaGuru Auction House director - marketing Manoj Mansukhani said, "Sold at the Historic Masterpieces auction, the work has set a new auction record for being the highest realised price for an artwork by Rabindranath Tagore." He added, "We are delighted to have achieved this landmark result. The sale is particularly significant as the work by Tagore is among the most important works to have appeared at an auction in the last decade."
The painting, part of a Mumbai-based collection, was auctioned with a handwritten card from Tagore, featuring a Bengali message "Tamosah Parastat" and its English translation, "From across the dark." Both the painting and the card have remained together since 1937.
AstaGuru noted in the catalogue, "The painting and the card have remained together ever since. They stand as a rare testament to Tagore’s late creative life and the private human bonds that shaped it."
Created with ink, poster colour, and crayon on cardboard, "From Across The Dark" was completed during Tagore's extended stay in Almora between April and June 1937, a period marked by renewed artistic intensity.
In a letter dated 11 June 1937, Tagore reflected on a strange listlessness that had come with age, yet wrote that his brush and paints sheltered him, adding context to the painting's significance.
Tagore began painting seriously only in 1928 at the age of 67. Tagore's achievement at this sale reflects the growing recognition of his late-period contributions to Indian art.