In 2008, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Vagabond (1956), offered in the South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art by Christie's, which concluded on 20 March 2008 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹4,68,34,740 ($1,161,000). 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 2014, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (Orphans) (1956), offered in the The India Sale by Christie's, which concluded on 11 December 2014 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of ₹4,82,25,000 ($775,248.01). 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 Untitled (1957), offered in the Southeast Asian and 20th Century Indian Pictures by Christie's, which concluded on 06 July 2003 at Hong Kong, achieving a sale price of ₹42,30,171 ($91,404). 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 2001, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1959), offered in the Indian and Southeast Asian Art: Including 20th Century Indian Paintings by Christie's, which concluded on 17 October 2001 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹19,73,589 ($41,125). 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.

My work is now guided by a concern with plastic qualities. I am more deeply involved with form than the content. When one is young and beginning, one’s work is dominated by content, by ideas ‒ but as one grows older, one turns to the language of painting itself. I have grown detached ‒ I want to find the same peace that the mystic found.

It is easy to see that Ram Kumar’s variations on the Benares theme would lead to abstraction. During the long phase of the Benares cityscapes there were paintings that one could regard, for all practical purposes, abstract; just as paintings after 1965, though largely abstract, contained shapes and references to the former theme – a suggestion of a door, a bridge, or a wall surface. The movement towards abstraction, inevitable as it might have been, also meant that the preoccupation with form would take precedence over everything else; certainly over content, but also over the sense of pathos that distinguished Ram Kumar’s work.

In 1992, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Banares (1962), 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 ₹49,500 ($1,647). 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 1995, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Self Portrait (1967), offered in the Contemporary Indian Paintings: From The Chester and Davida Herwitz Charitable Trust by Sotheby's, which concluded on 12 June 1995 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹1,26,405 ($4,025). 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 1995, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Benares (1967), offered in the Contemporary Indian Paintings: From The Chester and Davida Herwitz Charitable Trust by Sotheby's, which concluded on 12 June 1995 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹1,71,534 ($5,462). 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 2006, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Falling Bird (1968), offered in the Indian and Southeast Asian Art: Including Modern Indian Paintings by Sotheby's, which concluded on 29 March 2006 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹2,42,39,856 ($542,400). 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 2001, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1975), offered in the Modern Indian Art: 12 Contemporary Painters by Saffronart, which concluded on 16 May 2001 at Online, achieving a sale price of ₹7,05,000 ($15,022). 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 Untitled (Benares) (1981), offered in the Indian And Southeast Asian Art: Including Modern And Contemporary Indian Art by Christie's, which concluded on 21 September 2005 at New York, achieving a sale price of ₹1,69,35,552 ($385,600). 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.