VACCINE BILLIONAIRE SETS RECORD WITH RAVI VARMA MASTERPIECE

Cyrus Poonawalla has bought Raja Ravi Varma’s Yashoda and Krishna for $17.9 million at Saffronart, setting a new auction record for Indian painting. The sale highlights India’s booming art market, growing collector base, and renewed recognition of mythological themes as central to the country’s cultural and artistic heritage.

Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India and one of the country’s wealthiest industrialists, has purchased Raja Ravi Varma’s Yashoda and Krishna for $17.9 million, establishing a new benchmark for Indian art at auction. The painting, created in the 1890s, depicts the mythological scene of baby Krishna with his foster mother Yashoda, rendered in Varma’s distinctive blend of Western realism and Indian tradition. It now stands as the most expensive Indian painting ever sold, surpassing M.F. Husain’s Gram Yatra, which fetched $13.7 million at Christie’s New York in 2025.

The acquisition reflects the growing appetite among India’s elite collectors for works that embody cultural heritage. Varma, often hailed as the “father of Modern Indian art,” is one of eleven artists designated a “national treasure” under India’s 1972 antiquities act, which prohibits the export of his works. This restriction has historically limited international circulation, but the record-breaking sale signals the rising strength of India’s domestic collector base. Ashish Anand, chief executive of DAG gallery, described the purchase as a “turning point” for the country’s art market, highlighting a maturing audience committed to retaining cultural patrimony within India.

Poonawalla, worth an estimated $24.8 billion, is better known for his vast European art holdings, which include works by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Dalí and Chagall. His latest acquisition, however, underscores a shift towards investing in Indian heritage. In a statement, he pledged to make the painting available for public viewing periodically, reinforcing its status as a national treasure.

The sale also reflects the buoyant state of South Asian art auctions. Saffronart’s Mumbai sale totalled $30.7 million, capping a season in which Sotheby’s and Christie’s achieved record prices for artists such as Vivan Sundaram, Tyeb Mehta and Ganesh Pyne. Varma’s Yashoda and Krishna, notable for its 19th-century execution and mythological subject matter, demonstrates a growing recognition of traditional Indian themes as serious contenders in the global art market.

For India’s art scene, the record is more than a financial milestone. It signals a cultural reassertion, where mythology and heritage are not only preserved but celebrated as central to the nation’s artistic identity. As collectors like Poonawalla continue to invest, Indian art is poised to command greater international respect while remaining firmly rooted in its homeland