According to the BBC, the painting titled ‘Yashoda and Krisha’ sold for 17.9 million dollars at the Saffron Art auction house in Delhi.
The painting was purchased by billionaire businessman Cyrus Poonawalla, founder of the Serum Institute of India, one of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers.
According to Saffron, the businessman announced that the work is a ‘national treasure’ and that he will strive to put it on public display in the future.
This sale broke a record in the Indian art world, surpassing the ‘Gram Yatra’ painting, which sold for 13.8 million dollars last year.
Warma, born in 1848, is considered a pioneer of modern Indian painting and one of the most influential artists of the country’s south.
The artist is widely known in the country for his modern depictions of scenes from Hindu epics and mythology. The artwork “Yashoda and Krishna,” created in the 1890s, depicts a memory of the Hindu god Krishna’s childhood with his stepmother, Yashoda. Yashoda is milking a cow while Krishna stands beside her with a cup.
