Enough room for growth in the Indian art market, says ArtTactic founder

The founder & managing director of ArtTactic, Anders Petterson, was in India recently. The world-renowned art market research firm established by him eight years ago is backed by his comprehensive knowledge of contemporary art and background in financial analysis.

In a free-wheeling interview with Anindita Ghose of The Mint publication, he discussed the various issues related to the broader art markets, the future of Indian art in particular, and prudent investment choices.

At ArtTactic, he and his team members make use of well-proven analytical frameworks similar to those employed by financial market analysts for generating relevant statistical data. In a testimony to India’s growing clout and status as a fast-emerging art market, the research agency unveils regular reports for mapping its trajectory.

Its elaborate Artist’s Survival Rating allows investors to grasp long-term credibility for top artists. The ratings give fair idea of the long-term belief of an artist’s importance - high, medium or low.

Significantly, artist Subodh Gupta measures 72% in the ‘high’ category of the comprehensive three-tiered Indian Survival Rating launched a few months ago. Atul Dodiya comes a close second (65%). Another established artist Rashid Rana follows at 43%. Other names that form part of the crucial list are as follows (as mentioned in the article):

1. N.S. Harsha (37%)
2. Jitish Kallat (37%)
3. Ravinder Reddy (36%)
4. Bharti Kher (35%)
5. Surendran Nair (34%)
6. Sudarshan Shetty (28%)
7. Anju Dodiya (22%)

A report that was released by ArtTactic in April 2009 indicated that the overall Indian Art Market Confidence Indicator fell rather sharply since the last reading was registered sic months prior to that (in October 08).

In spite of what the figures suggest and the implied volatility associated with the Indian art market, Mr. Petterson believes that there’s still enough room for continued and sustained growth in it.