Home / Arts and Entertainment / Mehta's 'Rickshaw Puller' Smashes Records at Rs 69.1 Crore
Mehta's 'Rickshaw Puller' Smashes Records at Rs 69.1 Crore
12 Oct
Summary
- Rickshaw Puller sold for Rs 69.1 crore, a new world record for Tyeb Mehta.
- This sale made 'Rickshaw Puller' the fourth-most expensive Indian artwork sold.
- Volte Una's unique auction model focuses on single, major works for collectors.
In a remarkable event for the Indian art market, Tyeb Mehta's painting 'Rickshaw Puller' fetched Rs 69.1 crore at Volte Una's inaugural auction, setting a new world auction record for the artist. This sale surpassed Mehta's previous personal best of Rs 61.8 crore from April 2025. 'Rickshaw Puller' now stands as the fourth-most expensive Indian artwork ever sold at auction, following works by Raja Ravi Varma and M.F. Husain.
The motif of the rickshaw puller was a significant theme for Mehta, stemming from his childhood observations in Kolkata. His earlier depictions were somber, but 'Rickshaw Puller' captures a powerful fusion of man and machine, conveying the sheer exhaustion of the labor.
This record sale is particularly noteworthy given Mehta's reputation for stringent standards, often destroying works he deemed unworthy. It also marks a successful debut for Volte Una, a new auction house founded by Tushar Jiwarajka. Volte Una employs a distinctive model of offering one major work at a time to allow for focused collector engagement in private settings, while also aiming to reduce buyer's premiums and transaction costs.
