Raja Ravi Varma’s ‘Yashoda and Krishna’ sets record; Sold for Rs 167.2 crore

Mumbai: Pioneering painter Raja Ravi Varma’s ‘Yashoda and Krishna’ was acquired by billionaire industrialist Cyrus Poonawalla after a brief but intense bidding war. ‘Yashoda and Krishna’, an oil painting by Raja Ravi Varma, has set a new benchmark for Indian art at auction when it sold for Rs 167.2 crore .

After an intense bidding war at Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction in Mumbai on Wednesday, the work was acquired by billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, industrialist and founder of the Serum Institute of India. The price surpasses the previous record held by MF Husain’s ‘Untitled (Gram Yatra)’, which sold for over Rs 118 crore last year to Delhi-based collector Kiran Nadar.

‘Yashoda and Krishna’ is considered one of the most accomplished works in Varma’s career. It depicts Yashoda milking a cow while the infant Krishna reaches for a goblet of milk from behind, drawing the viewer into the scene and “transforming a domestic moment into an experience that suggests participation in a larger, sacred narrative”.