Indian Art

Contemporary Indian Art Market

India, the land of culture and tradition has always had a close association with the fine arts. From the cave sculptures and paintings, tribal arts like the Madhubani and Warli and Mughal miniatures which thrived under the patronage of emperors, India is not a stranger to the development of art. The post-independence era saw the germination of contemporary Indian art with a decided move away from the traditional art forms. Abanindranath Tagore is often regarded as the pioneer with his use of Japanese and Chinese techniques in his works. Others like Nandalal Bose, Samarendranath Gupta, A.K. Haldar, Jamini Roy and Amrita Shergill have together been credited with laying the foundation of modern Indian art.

While the 1970’s saw a spurt in the Indian art market, it was nowhere close to the juggernaut it is today. It was only in 1995 Sotheby’s held its first auction of Indian contemporary art and sold a Tyeb Mehta for approximately Rs. 3.75 lakh (USD 7 475) that most felt that Indian art had finally got the recognition it deserved. Seven years later, his triptych, “Celebration” at a Christie’s auction in New York fetch Rs. 1.4 Crores (USD 317 500). In September 2005, another Metha sold for Rs. 7 Crores (USD 1.6 Millions). In two auctions at Sothersby’s and Christie’s in New York in 2006 sold Rs. 130 Crores (USA 29.27 Millions) of Indian contemporary art. Earlier, as recent as the last decade, Indian art at foreign auctions was represented by a few antiquities, with perhaps a few pieces of decorative art. Today, names like Tyeb Metha, M F Husain, S H Raza, J. Swaminathan and F N Souza lead the list of foreign auctions of Indian art. Sharon Appa Rao comments on state of the Indian art market, "In the early 1960s and the 1970s, art collecting was limited to foreigners, ICS officers, diplomats and academicians. Hussain, Gaitonde, Krishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta, Souza and Hebbar sold their works for a few hundred rupees. Today, their works are considered blue-chip and worth lakhs of rupees. The trading creates the upward movement of prices."

A huge demand has developed also for the younger artists most of them are in the age group of 35 to 50 years, Surendran Nair, Ravindra Reddy, Rekha Rodwittiya, Nataraj Sharma, Paresh Maity, Shibu Natesan, G R Iranna, Jitish Kallat , Subodh Gupta, Anju Dodiya, Raquib Shaw are just a few of the names to reckon with and their numbers are growing. While Indian art may be on the rise, it barely makes a dent in the international art market valued at $30 bn, in fact Arun Vadhera, of Vadhera Art Gallery, defines it as 1% of the global market

While many speak of the gentle grace and finesse of the Calcutta artists, Mumbai and Delhi are the prime centers for art in India. The interest in art is of course a national phenomenon with galleries mushrooming in major cities and even big business houses investing in gallery space. It is estimated that even the smaller cities of India are witnessing art sales of about INR 10 crore per annum and this is expected to grow at a steady 25% annually.

Paintings are vying with gilt edge securities and gold as investment options. Fund managers are now launching art funds for those who see art as a “creative investment.”

Vik Mehrotra, CEO of Venus Capital Management, a hedge fund in Boston. “The contemporary art market in India is growing at 100 percent every year for the last five years,” he said. “It is still undervalued, and Indians are generating a lot of wealth with the economy booming.”

According to Yamini Mehta, specialist head of modern and contemporary Indian art at auction house Christie’s, "Buyers of Indian art have been, for a long time, Indian themselves. Now, there has been greater numbers from outside of India who are interested in Indian art. There is a lot more awareness to what is happening within India.” Numbers can only vouch her statement: starting from just Rs. 10 Crores (USD 2 Millions) in 2000, the annual turnover of the Indian art market is poised to touch the Rs 2,000 Crores (USD 500 Millions) mark in 2006 and is becoming a force to reckon with in the world arena. “Awareness of Indian art, the element of wealthy Indians and the ability to spend has all added to this phenomenon,” says Katriana Hazell, cultural director of Asia House Gallery, London. According to Robin Dean, head, Indian and Southeast Asian Art, Sotheby's, “…There are some very good times ahead for Indian art. And the money is going to be bigger than ever."

Many are taking advantage of the fact that art is now making good business sense. One such collaboration between a gallery and a financial institution is the tie-up of Citibank's Citigold Wealth Management with Sharan Apparao's Chennai-based Apparao Galleries to offer a "good deal" to its customers. According to Sharon, the collaboration will "give an opportunity to our customers to buy the right stuff at the right price". To further educate their clients on the nuances of the art market, they will also launch an art magazine for select Citibank customers.

The Indian art market has also faced the problem of fakes surfacing intermittently which is why it is essential to buy from a gallery which is directly promoting the artists associated with it and provides a certificate of authority. Indian contemporary art scene is indeed one worth investing in but requires the help of those who know the market and the artists well. In the words of Hugo Weihe, international director of Asian art, Christie's, New York, “the future belongs to Gen Next contemporary artists from India."