In many ways, Ara’s lack of formal training could be seen as an advantage, for in his struggle for articulation there were no academic impositions. As eclectic and raw as his painterly forms were, they were at the same time authentic to his inner striving and were later to be turned to a stunning advantage. Even at this stage, however, what could be evidenced was a penchant for compositions that drew from the quick of life, the raw edge as it were.

In 2019, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1945), offered in the Evening Sale by Saffronart, which concluded on 12 September 2019 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of ₹1,20,00,000 ($169,014). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.

Ara had the habit of experimenting with many styles, especially after visiting exhibitions of contemporary artists, and at times ‘adopting’ their style as if to prove that he could paint any thing, in any style.
“Ara’s art has always been intuitive, imaginative, spontaneous and improvised and not deliberate and intellectual…This has produced in him a certain eclecticism which is not really imitative or derivative but has led him from style to style… Critical appraisal is equally difficult because the bad mingles with the good not only in a series of paintings but in a single work… (however) with all its various facets, his work has a pervading quality of totality and unity which overcomes defective detail or weakness of drawing."

For many years, Ara has painted the female nude in a never-ending variety of poses. In some paintings his ambition is defeated by an inherent weakness of drawing, in others he succeeds in translating the observed form into a fully understood visualization of vibrant flesh. Even where his nudes appear to be provocative, they are peculiarly innocent of voluptuousness and sex, they seem almost detached and devoid of moods. They are just bodies in being, sufficient unto themselves and content to exist.

In 2006, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (Ragpicker As Artist) (1954), offered in the Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series VI: With Rare Drawings and Books on Indian Contemporary Art by Osian's, which concluded on 01 March 2006 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of ₹50,60,000 ($114,092). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.

In 2003, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Nude (1959), offered in the Forty Masterpieces: 20th Century Painting and Drawing from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka by Osian's, which concluded on 27 March 2003 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of ₹9,35,000 ($19,618). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.

In 2005, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Nude (1960), offered in the Masterpieces and Museum Quality Series: Indian Contemporary Art by Osian's, which concluded on 02 December 2005 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of ₹10,00,000 ($21,682.57). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.

In 2023, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Bathers (1960), offered in the Modern Treasures by Asta Guru, which concluded on 02 September 2023 at Online, achieving a sale price of ₹3,22,07,401 ($389,614.46). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.

A deliberate roughness in both drawing and applying paint is the most striking aspect of his still life paintings. In many of his flowers and vase studies, for example, the paint overflows from one object to another in a coagulated mass… A vase with pink flowers, for instance, has jagged strokes of red and yellow, rather like planks of wood against which he places a vase crudely drawn and slightly titled to express the artifice of the picture space...
If in many ways Ara’s work draws from the still life studies of Cezanne, in as much as painterly depths and volumes are created, the use of white in doing so remains his singular contribution to syntax…

In 1996, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Female Nude (1980), offered in the Modern and Contemporary Indian Paintings: One Hundred Years by Sotheby's, which concluded on 08 October 1996 at London, achieving a sale price of ₹3,33,840 ($9,376.21). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.

In 1992, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of The Day After (1984), offered in the Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art by Sotheby's, which concluded on 09 October 1992 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of ₹1,65,000 ($5,491). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.