Tagore painting fetches record Rs 10.7 crore at auction
Times of India | 20 December 2025
Kolkata: Rabindranath Tagore's masterpiece, ‘From Across the Dark', has sold for Rs 10.7 crore at an auction, making it the highest-realised price for an artwork by the Nobel laureate. The estimated price of the work at AstaGuru's recently concluded Historic Masterpieces auction was between Rs 2 crore and Rs 3 crore.
In June this year, Tagore's ‘The Heart' – perhaps the only known sculptural piece attributed to the literatry icon — had sold for over a crore at AstaGuru's ‘Collectors' Choice' auction. Prior to that, Tagore's unpublished 1921 notebook in English and Bengali, detailing writings on Poush Sankranti, had sold for Rs 70 lakh. Three woodcut works by Tagore also went under the hammer at aniother AstaGuru auction in March and fetched around Rs 8 lakh.
This was the first time that ‘From Across the Dark' was offered at a public auction. "The work, which is part of a Mumbai-based collection, was originally gifted by Tagore in 1937 to Rajmata Vidyawati Devi of Kasmanda during his stay in Almora. It was estimated to go under the hammer for Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore but was sold at Rs 10,73,55,551," said Manoj Mansukhani, director, marketing at AstaGuru Auction House.
The artwork holds both historical significance and emotional resonance. Painted in June 1937 during Tagore's sojourn in Almora, it reflects the introspective, atmospheric style characteristic of his late phase. Many art lovers have pointed out how this ink, poster colour and crayon work on cardboard depicting a lone figure in darkness with another reaching out from the shadows captures the psychological intensity of this phase in Tagore's life, influenced by age, solitude and personal loss.
Accompanying the work is a handwritten card bearing the inscription ‘Tamosah Parastat' (From across the dark), dated 5th Āsārh 1344 (June 19, 1937). Tagore, who had suffered the loss of his own children, gifted the painting and inscription to Yuvrani Vidyawati Devi after her child's death. The gesture highlights his compassion and his view of darkness as a path to connection, not an end.
Author Subodh Sarkar said the high price fetched by the painting is "great for Bengal, for India and the art market". "Tagore is possibly one of the biggest names in the history of art and literature. The re-evaluation of his paintings internationally is fantastic, especially with a piece estimated at Rs 3 crore selling for over Rs 10 crore," Sarkar said. He added that the artwork's theme, which suggests death and darkness signify connections, and not closures, is "hugely important for me".