India’s artists are enjoying a surge of interest from galleries and collectors. P.Ramakrishnan does some canvassing.
A FISHING BOAT sails into a canvas sliced with red and white hues, drifting away from a branch studded with rouged flora and fauna. The caption reads, “Spring, China”, and the minimalist starkness suggests that the watercolour is from Shanghai. But it’s not. It’s a Paresh Maity original.
Next, a Buddha stands in repose, his arms folded across his chest as a shower of lotus petals dot the air. Perhaps it’s by celebrated Thai artist Sudjai Chaiyapan? Wrong again. It’s a Charan Sharma acrylic.
Indian artists, long lumped together with other Southeast Asians, are slowly emerging onto the contemporary scene, with growing recognition and solid sales.
The genre has risen from middling two-figure deals just five years ago to US$100 million worth of works sold by global auction houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Saffron last year.
“The significant trend is the globally buoyant demand for contemporary Indian art,” says Neelanjan Shome, co-owner of Reflections gallery in Hong Kong, which specializes in Indian art. “While the market was estimated at about US$5 million in 1995, today it’s estimated to be about US$180 million.
“Individual works are also following this pattern of increasing valuation. Tyeb Mehta’s Celebration held the record of US317,000 since 2002 – only to be smashed by his Mahisasura, at a whopping US1.6 million in September last year. There appears to be a critical mass with enough disposable income to sustain these prices. It’s not a case of a handful of collectors driving the market.”
Maity, a major contemporary Indian artist, agrees. He has noticed a recent surge of interest not only in his own work but in Indian art, generally. “In the past two or three years, Indian art has suddenly become very big – become global in a big way,” says Maity, who will be in Hong kong this week to promote a book featuring paintings from his private collection. His paintings fetch US$17,500, on average. “It wasn’t recognised before in the word arena because people weren’t looking at it,” he says. “We have a huge tradition of art and culture, but there was no proper recognition outside India.
“I just had my 46th solo exhibition worldwide. For many years my work has been presented and sold in England, America, Germany Franc and the Middle East. I didn’t think I had any Chinese collectors, but last year, in Singapore, I met a few people who had six to eight pieces of my work.
“One of them flew to Mumbai to pick up a piece when an exhibition was sold out. Now, I’ve been invited to showcase my work in Hong Kong and I’m very much looking forward to it.”Charan Sharma, who is represented by Reflections, holds similar views. “We auction a few times a year in London and New York – Indian art is thriving and is in great demand. The reactions are very positive. I’m always surprised by the amount of knowledge that interested people – buyers, as well as viewers – have about the art scene today. Apart from Indians living abroad, the British, Australians and Americans are my regular collectors.”
According to Shome, about 20 per cent of all contemporary Indian art sold globally goes to non-Indians. This may be because the profile of Indian art has grown recently, with major exhibitions at the Asia Society and the Grey Art Gallery in New York and the Tate in London.
But Indian art is also seen as an affordable investment. A Ganesh Haloi, for instance, sells for between US$3,200 and US$5,000 – in sharp contrast to a lot of western art. The average price at the Christie’s autumn 1999 auction for contemporary American art, for example, was more than US$400,000.
“Last but not least, this has also been a function of a vibrant art scene,” Shome says. “The contemporary Indian art scene has witnessed a real revolution in the past 15 years.”
Maity says the innate Indian-ness draws people to his work. “When I went to China a few years ago, I was very influenced by the watercolours. In Venice and France, I saw and loved Picasso’s work and the way landscapes were done.
“But what I’ve found from collectors of my work is the positive-ness, the brightness, the colours, the centrally Indian themed paintings – the happiness in it is what they were picking up. I’m greatly influenced by folk art – miniature art that’s unique to our people – and that’s reflected in my work.
“I was so happy that in London last year my work was being shown in the same gallery as Picasso’s. Once, a few years back, my work was being shown with an international gallery of artists and people were picking up my work – when the buyers came in with no preconceived notions of what Indian art is or should be. When they’re buying it for simply what they see, that made me very happy."
Art critics from around the world are readjusting their views in light of the Indian invasion of precious wall space at Tate, Grey Art Gallery and the like.
According to Yamini Mehta, head specialist of Christie’s Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, the genre’s popularity has been growing steadily over the past decade.
“In the past, there was a nostalgic factor and nationalistic factor in that many of the collectors were non-resident Indians who were keen to collect and support artists who share their heritage,” she says.
“The growth of the Indian economy as also translated into the art world with much new wealth in the region. The relaxation of controls on foreign exchange and lowering of customs duties has made it easier for clients from India to participate in Christie’s auctions.”
Mehta says the demand for top Indian art is greater than the supply, and successive auctions have attracted more and more keen buyers at all levels.
“India and its diaspora comprise a population that is one billion strong, yet very little of the art is known to mainstream contemporary collections and institutions,” she says.
“This is changing, Indian art is being more exposed in the west. More international curators are coming to India and are taking note of the scene.”
Shome’s advice? “Use your heart to determine whether a particular piece of work will bring joy to you every day for years to come.”
Indian art exhition, featuring Paresh Maity, Vaikuntam, Jayshree Burman, Yusuf Arakkai and Laxma Goud
Mar 2-5,
Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre,
Kennedy Road.
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