NEW DELHI, April 2 -- A record $18 million ( Rs.167.2 crore, including buyer's premium) sale of Raja Ravi Varma's Yashoda and Krishna at Saffronart's Spring Auctions in Mumbai late Wednesday has set a new record for Indian art, overtaking the $13.75 million fetched by M. F. Husain's Gram Yatra at Christie's in New York last March.

The sale, in which every lot was sold, underscores rising demand for rare, blue-chip Indian works and raises the question of whether the market is being structurally re-rated.

"The sale signals both the sophistication of India's high-end art market and the growing financial power of Indian collectors. This is a benchmark for both value and market strategy," independent art critic Uma Nair, speaking to Mint abo...