How different segments of Indian art are performing?

An informative article in The Wall Street Journal by Margherita Stancati and Shefali Anand do a quick review of the different segments of the Indian art market. It makes some pertinent comments about the key areas a follows:

Modern school of painting: Collectors still see works by artists of India’s Modern school of painting, a movement spearheaded by F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza and the late M.F. Husain, as a safer investment than contemporary art.

A Mumbai-based gallery-owner and author of a new book on India’s art market, Abhay Maskara states: “They’ve etched their name in history. “They have been validated by galleries, by art history and prices, most importantly.” and adds, this makes people ‘more confident’ about buying their work.

Contemporary Art: Works by the younger generation, talented and emerging Indian artists are widely viewed as a riskier investment option than modernist paintings. Their prices suffered the most during the financial meltdown.

The relatively low prices, however, mean that savvy collectors could stand to gain. “This is the time to look at the next emerging voices,” says Alka Pande, an advisor and curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Center in Delhi.

Photography: The Indian market for this particular is gradually opening up. Devika Daulet-Singh of Photo Ink, a Delhi-based photography gallery, describes the space for photography in India’s art scene as still ‘small’. However, she says collectors are becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of limited edition prints.

In India, photographic prints are much cheaper compared to more established markets like Europe or China. Ms. Daulet-Singh states the Indian market is set to catch up. She showcased prints by photographers including Manas Bhattacharya and Madhuban Mitra at the IAF this year.

“We are in a situation similar to the 70s and 80s when you could buy the Modern masters at the prices photographic prints command today. Till recently, the very idea of a limited edition kept mainstream art collectors at a distance in India. I don’t see that as a big issue anymore,” she concludes.