From ₹1 lakh lots to ₹100 crore masterpieces: How India’s art market is broadening

India’s art market is broadening across price points, with strong activity in entry-level and mid-market works coinciding with a sharp rise in high-value auction transactions. The secondary market’s turnover climbed to a decade-high ₹2,543 crore in 2025, from ₹792 crore in 2015, underscoring the expansion in both participation and value.

The latest data from 360 ONE’s The Collector’s Guide shows that the market remained relatively range-bound between 2016 and 2020, when annual turnover stayed between ₹620 crore and ₹880 crore. Growth accelerated from 2021, gathered pace in 2022 and 2023, remained broadly steady in 2024, and then surged in 2025.

The breadth of demand is visible in auction volumes. In 2025, 5,059 lots were offered and 4,057 were sold, translating into an 80% sell-through rate. The ₹1 lakh–₹10 lakh segment accounted for 1,699 sold lots, making it one of the most active parts of the market. Another 1,287 lots sold in the ₹10 lakh–₹1 crore range, while 700 lots priced below ₹1 lakh were sold.

The activity at lower price points is significant because it indicates that the expansion is not confined to established collectors buying expensive works. The report specifically links the market’s decade-high turnover to strong underlying demand and growing interest from high-net-worth domestic collectors seeking to diversify into art.

Source: 360 ONE, The Collector’s Guide.

High-value works set benchmarks

At the upper end, meanwhile, Indian art is increasingly commanding prices running into tens of crores. The report’s list of the highest-selling South Asian masterpieces includes M.F. Husain’s Untitled (Gram Yatra), which sold for ₹118.84 crore at Christie’s in New York in March 2025. V.S. Gaitonde’s Untitled fetched ₹67.08 crore at Saffronart in New Delhi in September 2025, while F.N. Souza’s Houses in Hampstead sold for ₹67.45 crore at Sotheby’s in London the same month.

The record was pushed even higher by Raja Ravi Varma’s Yashoda and Krishna, which sold for ₹167.2 crore at Saffronart in Mumbai in April 2026, according to the report. The sale was described as the most expensive piece of Indian art ever sold at auction.

Paintings dominate value

Paintings remain the centre of this value concentration. They represented 47.5% of all lots sold in 2025 and generated ₹2,279 crore in value. Drawings and works on paper followed by volume, with 1,397 lots sold for ₹20 crore, while sculptures accounted for 304 lots and ₹6.97 crore.

The contrast between accessible lots and headline-grabbing masterpieces points to a market developing at multiple levels. Entry and mid-priced works are supporting wider participation, while marquee modernist and historical works are attracting global buyers and setting new price benchmarks. Together, these trends suggest India’s auction market is becoming deeper as well as more valuable.

The report, however, covers public auctions and excludes private sales, primary-market transactions, unsold or withdrawn lots overall.