Tracking the growth trajectory of Indian art market

Studying the Indian art market from a broader perspective, Mukti Khaire, a Harvard Business School professor and R. Daniel Wadhwani from the University of the Pacific, looked at the emergence of modern Indian art as a category in a comprehensive research paper. Until the early 1990s, it was largely characterized as ‘decorative’ in international art circles. Since it was identified with that category, its value remained low.

It was after 1995 that Indian art was classified as modernist and therefore ‘fine art’. It was then accepted as having more aesthetic and economic value than ascribed earlier. Several prominent auction houses translated the changing academic discourse into fathomable constructs, enabling a larger group of participants and lay consumers to follow its finer points. As the understanding of modern Indian art spread, its value automatically increased. This resulted in a greater media coverage, which naturally expanded the circle of interested stakeholders.

The market is now largely driven by collectors focused on specific artists and works in spite the looming slowdown threat. Even as the focus remains on the top three modernists, there are several other modern artists doing well apart from an array of talented contemporary artists, experimenting with forms, themes and mediums, to build an identity of their own. Importantly, most Indian artists enjoy a high resale value, constantly surpassing expectations over the past five years.

In a quest to target today’s discerning and choosy buyers, the top auction houses are choosing to focus on quality works. Incidentally, most top lots at recent sales are dominated by traditional and modern art. Value deals, if one can spot them with help of specialists, are available in the range of Rs 2-10 lakh.

The market conditions currently provide investors a good scope to acquire some quality works. Incidentally, most top lots at prominent sales were dominated by traditional and modern art. Progressive modernists, such as FN Souza, VS Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Raza and Husain also have witnessed good demand.