'Indian art collectors have become wiser.'

The CEO & co-founder of leading art auction house Saffronart, Dinesh Vazirani, is looking to chart new grounds and to break new territories. Marking a decade long stint of the top auction house is a significant tie-up with real estate service firm Cushman & Wakefield, there will be a proposed offering of premium residential as well as holiday properties in leading cities of India.

The Harvard management graduate spoke to Garima Pant of The Financial Express on the revival of the art market. He shared his views on the fast-changing profile of new-age collector. According to him, the art market in India has remarkably recovered. He believes it’s one notch ahead of where it happened to be prior to the financial crisis that hit the global markets.

He added: “The art market should reach its peak this year itself. It’s the old timers proving their mettle and collectors are going in for modernists such as Raza, for whom the market level has come up,” he observes. “There has been a marked incremental growth for top contemporary artists as well. Sharing his perspective for the market this year, he stated:

“The markets have matured and so have the buyers. The Indian market has gone up very sharply with a number of collectors coming in. They are looking for the best quality and have become wiser. And, with a wide range of information and knowledge available, buyers and collectors have become more informed. Indian economy is doing well and India has managed to survive the global crisis pretty well. "

There were people wanting to come in to buy before 2008, but the price rose too sharply then. So they want to come in now and see if they can get premium values on their choice of artworks. The focus and interest of the buyers and collectors is bent towards the masters. The older generation of artists has got critical acclaim, making them more popular among art lovers. The contemporary artists, with their global appeal, focus more on the global market.

Commenting on the changed profile of collectors, he said that with a much better access to knowledge about various works and genres of art, they are now better informed and equipped.