India’s art market is becoming more selective, prioritising fewer, higher-priced pieces over a larger quantity of works. As Saffronart, a leading Indian art auction house, celebrates its 25th anniversary with this week’s live auction, the volume of art sold through auctions has declined while the average price per work has increased significantly, shows a report on the Indian art market by Asign, a digital platform for artwork and collectibles.
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The number of artworks offered in auctions has dipped to 3,939 in FY25, down from 4,469 in the previous fiscal year. This led to a corresponding drop in the number of lots sold, from 4,300 to 3,827, in the same period. The report attributes this to a reduction in the availability artworks due to an increasing number of art fairs (domestic and international), exhibitions and biennales through FY25, which have likely diverted a significant number of works from the auction circuit.
As a result, the total market turnover dropped 4.6 percent from ₹1,698.3 crore in FY24 to ₹1,620.6 crore in FY25.
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Further analysis shows that buyers favoured more high value works in FY25. Though artworks priced below ₹15 lakh still account for most of the lots sold, their volume has dipped. The volume of art sold in the price brackets below ₹5 lakh; and between ₹5 lakh and ₹15 lakh fell sharply, by 19.6 percent and 15.9 percent respectively.
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Conversely, the mid-to-high-priced segments showed some growth. Sales of artworks priced between ₹15 lakh and ₹1 crore saw an increase, rising from 851 lots to 935. The most significant jump was in the ₹1 crore to ₹10 crore category, where the number of sold lots climbed to 279 from 234, showing a 19 percent increase.
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This preference for expensive artworks is the primary reason why the average price of an artwork sold has risen to ₹42.3 lakh in FY25, up from ₹39.5 lakh in FY24. This marks a notable 7.1 percent increase, defying the overall decline in both volume and turnover. While the highest bracket (above ₹10 crore) saw a decrease in lots sold from 28 to 15, this appears to be an outlier in a market otherwise consolidating around the premium segments.
The report also shows a significant four-fold increase in tribal art sales even as art made by pre-modern and modern artists is still preferred among buyers.
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Though modern artists’ dominance slightly weakened, the pre-modern art segment saw a significant 31.5 percent revival in FY25. The contemporary art market showed strong growth with a 31.8 percent increase, and a massive 99.3 percent jump for emerging artists highlights a new collector appetite. The post-independence segment, however, experienced a downturn of 12.1 percent.
