Indian Vaccine Billionaire Acquires Raja Ravi Varma Masterpiece for $17.9 Million, Setting Auction Record

On April 1, a painting by Raja Ravi Varma titled 'Yashoda and Krishna' sold for $17.9 million at Saffronart in Mumbai, establishing a new auction record for South Asian paintings. The work, created in the 1890s, surpassed its pre-sale estimate of $8.6 million to $12.9 million. The buyer was Indian pharmaceuticals billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute in Pune and India's ninth-wealthiest individual. Poonawalla stated his intention to periodically make this 'national treasure' available for public viewing. The painting depicts the Hindu deity Krishna as an infant with his foster mother Yashoda and exemplifies Ravi Varma's fusion of Western academic realism with Indian mythological themes. This sale broke the previous record set just one year earlier by MF Husain's 'Gram Yatra,' which sold for $13.7 million at Christie's New York in March 2025. Ravi Varma is among 11 artists designated as 'national treasures' under a 1972 Indian law that prohibits their works from leaving the country, restricting potential buyers to domestic collectors. According to Ashish Anand, CEO of DAG gallery, this sale represents a significant moment for India's art market, demonstrating a maturing collector base committed to retaining cultural heritage within the country. The auction season for South Asian art has been strong, with Sotheby's New York achieving $22.1 million in sales and setting records for 12 artists, while Christie's New York realized $27 million in its South Asian sale. These developments indicate growing recognition of mythological subjects within the global art market and reflect the expanding wealth of Indian collectors.