Rising collector interest in Indian art

While demand for India’s established names is still quite strong among collectors, works by other renowned and highly talented artists such as Atul Dodiya, Bharti Kher, Rashid Rana, and Jitish Kallat are also doing well in terms of demand.

While Christie's continues to dominate the auction market for Contemporary and Modern Indian art with total sales well in excess of $20 million (close to Rs 100 crore) in the year gone by, Sotheby’s was the obvious second selling Indian art worth $9.5 million (roughly Rs 50 crore).

At an online auction conducted by a top Mumbai-based art auction house, paintings by top Indian artists, including Syed Haider Raza, Jehangir Sabavala, and Tyeb Mehta among others fetched over $14 million (about Rs 70 crore).

The Christie’s associate director (south Asian modern + contemporary art), Sonal Singh, has been quoted as saying in a recent news report (‘Indian artworks see rise in collector interest’ in The Hindustan Times by Rachit Vats and Tejeesh NS Behl), “The Indian contemporary & modern art market has grown. And the fact that we’ve added more sale locations for this particular category goes to show the increasing demand globally.” The auction house auctions Indian art in New York, London and Hong Kong.

The report also quotes the director of Sotheby’s, Maithili Parekh, as saying: “Top quality art with stellar provenance and in good condition finds buyers in India and world-over. In the past 18 months, we have seen record prices for artists such as Raza and Akbar Padamsee.”

The market is now getting more discerning. Masterpieces and quality works have grown in demand, reaching high values thanks to the growing affluent Indian middle class. There is a better appreciation of art among new breed of collectors. What though remains to be seen is whether the art prices actually reflect the market size or supply demand equation.

Auctions are not necessarily a true indicator of the market price of a work, as hectic bidding often raises the price, art critic and curator Sahar Zaman points out and adds that it’s difficult to evaluate the artworks’ value traded outside of auctions because many of these transactions are done in cash.