For much of his life, artist Tyeb Mehta lived in a cramped one-room Bombay apartment that doubled as a studio by day and a bedroom at night.It was only in the 1990s that he and his wife Sakina could afford to move into a two-bedroom apartment in Lokhandwala. Today, his paintings command staggering sums. The latest is Rickshaw Puller, which sold for Rs 69.1 crore at Volte Una’s inaugural auction, setting a world auction record for the artist.The sale surpassed the previous record of Rs 61.8 crore, set by Trussed Bull in April 2025, and makes Rickshaw Puller the fourth-most expensive Indian work of art ever sold at auction.Painted in 2002, during the final decade of Mehta’s career, the acrylic on canvas depicts the rickshaw puller, a figure he returned to in his later work. The painting attracted multiple bidders in the final minutes before the auction closed.
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The record is particularly striking for an artist known for his exacting standards, who routinely destroyed works he considered unworthy. It also marks a significant debut for Volte Una, a new auction house built around an unusual premise: selling one major work at a time rather than offering multiple lots in a single sale.The single-lot format is designed to give collectors time to engage closely with each artwork before bidding, with an emphasis on privacy and discretion.“We are thrilled that we were able to respect Tyeb Mehta’s painting by exposing it to the most serious and discreet collectors globally in private settings,” said Tushar Jiwarajka, Founder of Volte Una. “And we have introduced a business model that allows the traditional buyer’s premium to be significantly reduced, putting that money back in the pockets of consignors and successful bidders.”Volte Una’s next auction, scheduled for the end of November, will feature a work by M F Husain from the renowned Herwitz Collection.
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