Mehta's Mighty Bull - The Defiant Spirit Of Indian Art Commands INR 61.8 Crore

RECORD-SHATTERING MASTERPIECE TIES FOR SECOND MOST VALUABLE INDIAN ARTWORK

The bull run in the Indian art market charges forward with unstoppable momentum, embodied perfectly by modernist master Tyeb Mehta's iconic bovine imagery. Just days after M.F. Husain's work entered the prestigious ?100-crore club, Mehta's powerful "Trussed Bull" (1956) has commanded an astonishing ?61.8 crore ($7.27 million) at Saffronart's Mumbai auction.

The painting now shares the position of second most expensive Indian artwork ever sold globally, tied with Amrita Sher-Gil's "The Story Teller," which achieved the same price in 2023. Astoundingly, Mehta's visceral depiction of a restrained bull exceeded its higher estimate by nearly nine times.

CENTENARY MILESTONE ADDS NEW CHAPTER TO ARTIST'S PRICE-BREAKING LEGACY

This record-setting achievement adds another landmark to Mehta's illustrious history of elevating Indian art's global standing. The Mumbai-based artist, who passed away in 2009, first made history in 2002 when his triptych "Celebration" from The Times of India's collection became the first modern Indian artwork to surpass the one-crore threshold, selling for ?1.5 crore at Christie's. Mehta broke barriers again in 2005 when his "Mahishasura" became the first Indian artwork to exceed $1 million. Now, in his centenary year, he has established yet another benchmark for Indian artistic achievement.

Wednesday's auction also marked a significant milestone for homegrown auction house Saffronart, which celebrated its 25th anniversary with a record-breaking $25 million sale. Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart's CEO and co-founder, declared that this was a global record for an Indian art auction. He added that it demonstrated the remarkable strength of the art market at a time when other asset classes were struggling. Vazirani further noted that the timing made it even more meaningful as they celebrated Mehta's centenary year. XXX The proceeds from the sale will benefit the Mehta family, as the artwork came directly from their personal collection.

BEYOND THE PRICE TAG: THE HUMBLE GENIUS BEHIND THE MASTERPIECES

Despite the astronomical sums his works now command, Mehta lived modestly for most of his life. He and his wife Sakina occupied a cramped one-room apartment that served as both his studio by day and their bedroom by night. Only in the 1990s could they afford to upgrade to a two-bedroom residence in Lokhandwala. Kishore Singh, senior VP at DAG (formerly Delhi Art Gallery), reveals that Sakina, like many other wives of artists during that era, was the one who supported Mehta financially. Singh explains that she worked as a teacher to provide stability while he pursued his artistic vision.

While Mehta's paintings now sell for prices as striking as his pregnant Kali and his complex portrayals of Durga, measuring his significance purely in financial terms would fundamentally misrepresent the artist and his principles. Singh emphasizes that for Tyeb, the power of painting transcended any monetary value it might achieve in the market. He then shares a revealing anecdote from Delhi gallerist Arun Vadehra, a close associate of Mehta.

According to Singh, Arun had one of Tyeb's paintings prominently displayed in his office. Without warning, Tyeb removed it one day. Later, he replaced it with an entirely different work. When Arun questioned him about this, Tyeb simply stated that he had destroyed the earlier painting because it didn't meet his standards. Singh concludes that though Mehta wasn't particularly prolific, he remained uncompromising in his commitment to artistic integrity until the end.

TRAUMA TRANSLATED: HOW PERSONAL WITNESS SHAPED ARTISTIC VISION

Mehta's powerful imagery was profoundly rooted in his lived experiences, with his canvases chronicling the turbulence surrounding him—from the horrors of Partition to the struggles of a newly independent India and the violence of the 1992 Bombay riots. In a haunting interview, Mehta recounted the trauma of witnessing violence during Partition.

He revealed that at that time, he was living on Mohammed Ali Road, which was essentially a Muslim ghetto. He could still vividly remember watching from his window as a young man was slaughtered in the street below. Mehta described how the crowd surrounded the man, beat him mercilessly to death, and smashed his head with stones. He admitted that that image had never left him.

Those traumatic images haunted him throughout his life, as did witnessing bullocks being led to slaughter at a Bombay abattoir. When discussing the profound symbolism of the bull in his oeuvre, Mehta explained that when he witnessed how they violently tied up the animal's legs and callously flung it onto the slaughterhouse floor before the butchering began, he felt an overwhelming sense that something essential and vital had been extinguished.

He confided that for him, the trussed bull transcended its literal form to become a powerful metaphor for the national condition—representing masses of humanity rendered helpless, unable to properly channel or direct their tremendous inherent energies and potential.

Even as his vision deteriorated in his later years, Mehta's artistic commitment never wavered. Singh reveals that the striking primary colors that became such a signature element of Mehta's later works weren't merely an aesthetic choice. He explains that they were a practical adaptation to his deteriorating vision.

Singh adds that despite this physical limitation, Tyeb refused to compromise, maintaining his legendary perfectionism and continuing to create powerful art until the very end of his life.