This collection groups together the artists of India most valued by auction houses, critics and private collectors. On average, their paintings sell for over $500,000.
This list is not exhaustive.
List of paintings
Artists
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S H Raza
Sayed Haider Raza (22 February 1922 – 23 July 2016) was an Indian painter who lived and worked in France from 1950 until his death, while maintaining strong ties with India. He was born in Kakkaiya (District Mandla), Central Provinces, British ...
(born 22 February 1922 - 23 July 2016) was a famous Indian artist who lived and worked in France since 1950, but maintained strong ties with India. His works were mainly abstracts in oil or acrylic, with a very rich use of color. Raza became India's most expensive modern artist on 10 June 2010, when the painting titled ''Saurashtra'' sold for $3,486,965 at a
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
auction.
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Tyeb Mehta
Tyeb Mehta (26 July 1925 – 2 July 2009) was an Indian painter, sculptor and film maker. He was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and the first post-colonial generation of artists in India, like John Wilkins who also broke free ...
lived from 25 July 1925 to 2 July 2009. In 2002, one of his paintings sold at a
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
auction for Rs 8 crore, which was not only the highest sum for an Indian painting at an international auction at that time, but also triggered the subsequent great Indian art boom.
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John Wilkins
John Wilkins, (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death.
Wilkins is one of the fe ...
(1927–1991), was an Indian artist whose works have been rated in the league of the greatest by art critics. His paintings are valued highly, and many are in the collections of select art collectors, business houses and Government institutions. Some of his most famous works include ''Gossip'', ''Sneha- village belle'' and ''Market Seller''.
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Vasudeo S. Gaitonde
Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924 – 10 August 2001), also known as V. S. Gaitonde, was regarded as one of India's foremost abstract painters. He received the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1971.
Early life and education
Gaitonde was born ...
(1924–2001) had a reputation as India's foremost abstract artist. An untitled abstract by Gaitonde sold for Rs 92 lakh at an Osians auction, the highest amount paid for a contemporary Indian painting at the time. Gaitonde died in 2002. In 2013, one of Gaitonde's untitled painting sold for , set a record for an Indian artist at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
debut auction in India.
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Amrita Sher-Gil
Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ear ...
(January 30, 1913 – December 5, 1941) was an eminent Indian painter, today considered an important women painter of 20th-century India, whose legacy stands on a par with that of the Masters of the
Bengal Renaissance
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. Her painting ''Village Scene'' fetched Rs 6.9 crore at Osians auction in March 2006.
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Subodh Gupta
Subodh Gupta, (born 1964) is an Indian contemporary artist based in New Delhi. His work encompasses sculpture, installation, painting, photography, performance and video.
Early life and education
Gupta was born in Khagaul, a small town in Bih ...
(born 1964) is an artist based in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
; he was born in
Khagaul
Khagaul is a city and a municipality in Patna district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is a part of the Danapur-cum-Khagaul block of Patna.
Overview
Khagaul is a Nagar Parishad city in the district of Patna, Bihar.
The Khagaul city is div ...
,
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
. His sculpture of brass and stainless steel utensils was sold for $80,000 in April 2010.
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Maqbool Fida Husain (born 17 September 1915,
Pandharpur
Pandharpur (Pronunciation: əɳɖʱəɾpuːɾ is a well known pilgrimage town, on the banks of Candrabhagā River, near Solapur city in Solapur District, Maharashtra, India. Its administrative area is one of eleven tehsils in the District, ...
,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
), popularly known as MF Husain, started his career as a billboard-painter. , his paintings average at least 2 million dollars at an auction or private sale. After some controversy regarding his paintings in his home country, he was on a self-imposed exile from 2006. In January 2010 he was offered citizenship of
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, which he accepted.
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Sudarsan Pattnaik
Sudarsan Pattnaik (born 15 April 1977) is an Indian Sand art and play, sand artist from Puri, Odisha. In 2014, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, for his seashore sand arts.
Earl ...
is world-renowned sand artist http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/sudarshan-pattnaik-wins-at-world-cup-of-sand-sculpting/
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Most Expensive Indian Artists
most extensive
Artists, Indian
Indian superlatives