On Tuesday, Sotheby’s London’s sale of modern and contemporary South Asian art rang up at £19.8 million ($26.2 million), the highest total realized for the category in the house’s history. The 73-lot sale achieved a 99% sell-through rate, with some 89% of works exceeding their high estimate. The house’s previous high in the category was £18.9 million ($25.5 million), also achieved in London, one year ago. Along the way, new auction records were set for Antonio Piedade da Cruz, Sunayani Devi, Olinto Ghilardi, Gopal Ghose, Bhupen Khakhar, Dhruva Mistry, Hugo Vilfred Pedersen, Mohan Sharma, and Rabindranath Tagore. Related Articles “This has been an extraordinary sale for the department—our highest total in history, surpassing the record we set in London only last year,” said Manjari Sihare-Sution, the auction house’s worldwide head of modern and contemporary South Asian art, in a press announcement. “With nine new artist records, the results reflect both the depth of the market and the increasingly international appreciation for South Asian art.” Leading the sale was Sayed Haider (S.H.) Raza’s abstract landscape Paysage …