Running of the 'Bulls': A $2.8 Million Record

By STAN SESSER

Tyeb Mehta's 'Bulls' commanded the second highest price ever for a work of Indian contemporary art at Christie's Wednesday.

Nine years ago, the Indian artist Tyeb Mehta set a record when his triptych painting called "Celebration" sold at a Christie's auction for $317,500. It was the highest sum ever paid for an Indian painting at an international auction and an early milestone in a market boom for contemporary Indian art.

On Wednesday, a painting by Mr. Mehta, who died in 2009, set another record, bringing in almost nine times the price of the 2002 sale. His diptych "Bulls" sold for $2.8 million at Christie's. The only contemporary Indian art work that has sold for more is a geometric painting by artist Syed Haider Raza, which sold for $3.5 million last June.

Mr. Mehta, Mr. Raza and a handful of other Indian artists, including the late Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain, who is still painting at the age of 95, are reviving interest in contemporary Indian art after demand slowed during the recession. "It's the same pattern as China, but delayed," says Hugo K. Weihe, Christie's international director of Asian art. "India is geared to be second to China in Asia."

Behind the rebound are wealthy Indian buyers—some living in the U.S. and the U.K.—who are taking increasing interest in the art of their native country. Mr. Weihe estimates the market for contemporary Indian art is "half from India, plus a large chunk of nonresident Indians in London and the U.S., and to a lesser but growing extent, Westerners."

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