NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s New York’s Modern & Contemporary South Asian live auction totaled $22.1 million, with a 100% sell through rate and 95% of works selling above their high estimates. The auction marks the department’s second-highest total in its more than 30-year history.

Manjari Sihare-Sutin, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, commented: "Today's auction was a landmark moment for Modern and Contemporary South Asian art. Achieving $22.1 million with 100% of lots sold underscores the extraordinary demand and global appreciation for these artists. From record-breaking results for K.C.S. Paniker and Vivan Sundaram to strong participation across continents, the sale reflects both the enduring significance and the growing momentum of this field in the international market.”

Key Facts & Figures:

● Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art: $22.1 million (est. $7.5 - $10.8 million)

● Strong sell-through rate of 100%

● 95% of works sold above their high estimates

● 12 world records, including K.C.S. Paniker, Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar & Vivan Sundaram

● Average Lot Value: $302,300

● Global participation, with activity from over 20 countries including India and across Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East

● The auction was led by Maqbool Fida Husain’s Second Act (1958), which sold for $5.1 million (est. $2.8 - 3.5 million) to applause after a six-minute bidding battle. Among the most widely published and frequently exhibited works by the artist ever to appear in this category at Sotheby’s, the work was first exhibited in 1958 at Kumar Gallery, New Delhi, the crucible of India’s post-Independence avant-garde. Alluding to Adam and Eve at the moment of expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the monumental canvas transforms a biblical narrative into a powerful meditation on exile, intimacy, and estrangement. The work was formerly in the distinguished collection of Chester and Davida Herwitz and was offered in today’s auction from the collection of Navin Kumar.

● Hot on the heels of the record-setting sale for Francis Newton Souza—achieved at Sotheby’s London in September 2025, when Houses in Hampstead realized £5.65 million ($7.6 million)—two further works by the artist delivered equally impressive results. Untitled (Mountain with Houses), making its auction debut after remaining in the same collection since the 1960s, sold for $2.3 million to applause (est. $400,000 - 600,000), while Houses in Moonlight (1960), a masterful example of the architectonic cityscapes Souza developed in London during the late 1950s and early 1960s, achieved $1.7 million, more than three times its high estimate (est. $300,000 - 500,000).

● And the Paddy Was Not Yet Long by one of India’s most revered modernists Jehangir Sabavala realized $896,000 (est. $600,000 - 1.2 million). Offered publicly for the first time from the private collection of Sir David and Lady Phoebe Orr, the painting has remained in the family’s collection for over four decades.

Further Standout Moments:

● The auction opened to a packed room and immediate momentum: among the first lots, Maqbool Fida Husain’s Her Daughter soared to $1 million—five times its high estimate of $200,000 (est. $150,000–$200,000).

● K.C.S. Paniker’s Untitled (Words and Symbols) (1964), a masterwork from his celebrated Words and Symbols series and widely regarded as a pinnacle of his oeuvre, sold for $576,000—well over its $150,000 high estimate—after a contest among four passionate bidders, setting a record for the artist and for the series. Painted two years before the artist founded the influential Cholamandal Artists’ Village, the work marks a pivotal moment in his evolution toward symbolic abstraction and metaphysical exploration. Acquired directly from the artist in 1969–70, it has remained in the collection of the family of Professor Arrand Parsons, a longtime Northwestern University music theorist, and his wife Margaret, both avid supporters of Indian modern art.

● Vivan Sundaram’s Inbetweeness (est. $80,000 - 120,000) sold for $896,000, over 7 times its high estimate. Made in the mid-1960s during his time in London, the work belongs to an earlier but crucial phase in his career. At this time, Sundaram was absorbing the visual language of British Pop Art, while also carrying forward the formative influences of Baroda modernism and the eclectic pedagogy of K.G. Subramanyan.

● Maqbool Fida Husain’s Untitled (Figures), making its auction debut, sold for $832,000 (est. $300,000–500,000), reflecting the artist’s enduring fascination with the female form and his exploration of the female bond.

New Auction Benchmarks Achieved by:

● Vivan Sundaram (Lot 322)
● K.C.S. Paniker (Lot 324)
● Velu Viswanadhan (Lot 328)
● Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar (Lot 341)
● Om Prakash Sharma (Lot 344)
● Sardar Ganda Thakar Singh (Lot 359)
● Frieda Hauswirth Das (Lot 360)
● Shamsul Islam Nizami (Lot 367)
● Shahabuddin Ahmed (Lot 368)
● Sheikh Mohammed Sultan (Lot 369)
● Rashid Choudhury (Lot 370)
● Aminul Islam (Lot 371)

Bangladeshi artists performed particularly well, setting 5 of these world records, including for the largest tapestry by Rashid Choudhury ever offered at auction.

From left to right: A very rare and important 'huanghuali' folding horseshoe-back armchair (Jiaoyi), Late Ming - early Qing dynasty, 17th century, sold for $2 million, A magnificent and possibly unique large blue and white 'fruit and flower' jar, Mark and period of Xuande, sold for $4.1 million & A thangka depicting the life of the Buddha, Tibet, 14th century, sold for $640,000

Today’s result builds on a week of exceptional sales for Chinese art and furniture at Sotheby’s. Among the highlights was an exceedingly rare and important seventeenth century ‘huanghuali’ folding horseshoe-back armchair (jiaoyi), formerly in the collection of Frederic Mueller and previously part of the Museum of Classical Chinese Furniture in Renaissance, California which realized $2 million (est. $1.2 - 2 million) after being pursued by two bidders on the phones for over five minutes.

Chinese Art totaled $14.7 million, with 61% of lots selling above their high estimates. A rare Song dynasty Guanyao lobed dish formerly in the Frederick M. Meyer Collection achieved $1.9 million (est. $1.2 - 1.8 million), while a magnificent and possibly unique Xuande mark and period blue and white jar formerly in the Chang Foundation sold to applause for $4.1 million (est. $1.5 – 1.8 million) after a bidding battle between three bidders on the phones and in the room for nearly nineteen minutes. Additionally, a magnificent and exceptionally rare Tang dynasty pottery figure of a bowing horse from the Cindy and Jay Pritzker Collection, sold for $1 million (est. $400,000–800,000) following an eleven minute bidding battle.

Leading the Indian and Himalayan Art sale was a significant 14th-century Tibetan thangka depicting the life of Shakyamuni Buddha, which realized $640,000—nearly three times its low estimate (est. $220,000 - 400,000). Previously exhibited at major institutions worldwide, the work is distinguished by its intricate raised gold detailing, evident in the Buddha’s patchwork robe, halo, throne, and surrounding ornamental motifs. These refined elements underscore the exceptional sophistication of 14th century Tibetan atelier practice.

The Asian Art sales continue with Impressions of the Past: Han Dynasty Tomb Bricks from the Art Institute of Chicago, which closes for bidding on March 31.