Auction results point to a signs of revival in modern Indian art

Pointing to a definite revival in modern art market, auctioneer Saffronart clocked impressive sales at autumn online auction 2009. According to media reports, 77 per cent of the lots featured in it fetched Rs 17.6 crore.

The top five lots comprised Akbar Padamsee's `Untitled' (Rs1.87 crore); Souza's `Old City Landscape' (Rs1.82 crore); Hussain's `Untitled' (Rs1.58 crore); Manjit Bawa's `Untitled' (Rs1.26 crore) and again Souza with his 'Man with Baked Features in a Black Coat' (Rs1.04 crore).

In fact, the recent auction results suggest that the market for modern artists appears to be strong. Osian's registered out a sale of Rs 17.22 crore in its recent sale of Masterpieces of Indian Modern & Contemporary Art. The auction's repertoire included iconic works by modern masters such as Souza, Husain, Raza, Gaitonde and Ara.

The list also included Ram Kumar, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Jamini Roy, Akbar Padamsee and Ganesh Pyne. Most of these works found buyers. Exquisite works by talented contemporary young artists like Baiju Parthan, Bharti Kher, Shibu Natesan, Anju and Atul Dodiya also drew attention of collectors.

Summing up the scenario, Mr Tuli observed in an interview,

"The next few months will see those with liquidity trying to capture a few prize works, but such mindsets rarely succeed on a sustainable basis. The market will eventually recover, but only when a new level of information and knowledge flow is created with greater confidence amid the institutional investor.”

Meanwhile, CEO and co-founder of Saffronart, Dinesh Vazirani, noted in a statement:

"The results have exceeded our expectations with eight works selling for more than Rs1 crore. The competitive bidding at each closing clearly demonstrated that Indian art market has regained momentum, with prices of high quality artworks appreciating significantly."

From a larger perspective, Hugo Weihe, international director of Asian art, Christie’s, sees ‘renewed vigor in the field’. Zara Porter-Hill, director and head of Indian art at Sotheby’s sees the market “sending a very positive and encouraging message” to collectors.