South Asian Art Market Flooded With Forgeries as 2025 Sales Top $100 Million

1 articles · Updated · Artforum · Aug 20

$100 million-plus in 2025 auction sales has drawn a surge of forged South Asian artworks, hitting both marquee names and mid-market artists as buyers chase apparent bargains.
Auction records help set valuations, letting fakes be priced just low enough to look attractive; London dealer Charles Moore said private sellers offer him a fake every couple of weeks.
$5.22 million paid in June for Ganesh Pyne's The Fisherman underscored the boom, but Pyne has long been a forgery target—Christie's withdrew a purported work in 2006.
Limited scholarship, scarce art-history programs and thin public collections leave collectors relying on word of mouth, while online sales—15% of the global art market—make policing harder.
Collectors and dealers warn the damage could spread beyond individual sales, with Dadiba Pundole saying a single scandal could undermine the market's legitimacy.